Molly Ringwald says this sibling duo had been in talks to star in ‘The Breakfast Club’

Molly Ringwald is sharing behind-the-scenes details about making “The Breakfast Club,” including the studio’s original idea for a slightly different cast. 

The cast of the beloved 1985 John Hughes coming-of-age film — starring Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estèvez, Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy — recently reunited to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “The Breakfast Club” at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. All five actors joined moderator Josh Horowitz for a discussion about the film and spilled some secrets from the set. 

During the panel, which was held April 12, Horowitz asked if the movie was considered a “highly sought-after project at the time” before it became a box office success. 

Sheedy said she wasn’t sure but she recalled that when Hughes phoned her and asked to talk about the role he hadn’t written the script yet. She remembered him only having a description of Allison to explain to her. 

Ringwald jumped in and provided some additional information about the timeline of Hughes’ teen drama classics, which includes “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and more films. She said that the director planned to make “The Breakfast Club” first. But after Universal Pictures saw his script for “Sixteen Candles,” also starring Ringwald and Hall, the studio decided to shoot the romantic comedy first. 

She then revealed surprising news about the initial plan for the cast. 

“So they put ‘Breakfast Club’ on hold, and then, from my understanding, John Cusack was going to play Bender and Joan Cusack was going to play Allison,” she continued. “I don’t know who was going to play the other parts.”

The parts eventually went to Nelson, who portrayed “criminal” Bender, and Sheedy, who played “basket case” Allison. 

Although the Cusack siblings didn’t appear in “The Breakfast Club,” they both have roles in “Sixteen Candles.” 

Ringwald also said that Hughes approached her with another role in mind before filming began.  

“Originally, he had talked to me about playing Allison, but I wanted to play the other part (Claire) because I felt like that was less like me,” she explained. 

The Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo marked the cast’s first reunion in 40 years, the convention said in an Instagram post that showed the actors walking onto the stage. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause in the clip. 

Parts of the cast have gotten together before, but Estèvez typically didn’t join them, which Ringwald poked fun at during the panel. 

“I skipped all of my high school reunions, so this just was something that finally I felt I needed to do just for myself,” Estèvez said about attending the expo. “But Josh, this one felt special. It’s here in Chicago, where we made the film, and obviously the 40th anniversary, and it just felt like it was time.”