The Breakfast Club (1985)

If I'm not mistaken, I think this BMW belonged to Hughes. The guy with the red hair and the Burberry scarf, we have no explanation for. I think he was arrested shortly after. Molly was hot. She had an old lady 'do there, but I like it. Honey, ditching class to go shopping doesn't make you a defective. Have a good day.

He had two favorite topics, Mickey Mantle and Bob Dylan. He would always talk about one or the other. And he knew a lot. A lot. - Yeah, he was a fun guy. And he loved to mix it up. It's great to work with actors that try to promote a response. He was really fun, and having fun with it, as an actor. He was really great to hate. You know what I mean? And he came up with so much stuff, weird stuff. When he's alone in those hallways, he always doing something. Speaking of which, that was your improv. I loved that. Hocking a loogie, then catching it. That was awesome. Yeah, Hughes said, "Let's keep it," and I said, "Why?" Because Molly was really grossed out by it. Right. - Just legitimately. So, it was like, yeah... But that was the point. - Yeah. You really did it, though. - Yeah. I just did it in a rehearsal, and Hughes said, "Can you do that again?" And I go, "All day long." - Yeah. Long before I knew what the Method was, Judd was putting down work, pissing people off whenever possible in the character. Well, it's great. ...of no less than 1,000 words describing to me who you think you are. Speaking of pissing people off, with the football team, how did you wind up out there catching punts and stuff like that? Well, we would have breaks. A lot of times there would be certain scene changes and some lighting stuff was very complex, 'cause if they were showing the whole room, it's a very deep space, and so it might take a couple of hours. So, I'd wander around, and you'd hear some activity somewhere in the big school, and I would go there, and it was the receivers in this line catching balls out of one of those football-throwing spiral machine things with two wheels. So, I just joined their line. I would catch passes to get my fingers... - It throws darts at 90 miles an hour. Just like... Bouncing it off my chest. And some guy was walking outside and he goes, "You wanna shag some punts?" And I was like, "Okay." I went out there. My God, that ball was kicked a mile in the air. I'm really lucky I didn't get hit in the face and knocked unconscious, or killed by one of those punts. That was fun, yeah. Take a bit of the edge off so I'd behave myself. You in costume out there catching punts with the guys in pads running at you? No, no, no, no, no. Just me, alone... With the place kicker. - Okay, okay. No, with the punter. No, there was no team. He was just kicking missiles that went 60 yards. It's unbelievable. It was like BB. Then I go, "Where's he at?"

Why is that door closed?

Why is that door closed? How are we supposed to know? We're not supposed to move. Why? We're just sitting here like we're supposed to.

Who closed that door? Did you fink on me? You're gonna just sell me out. Who? It's a big moment actually, though, that they don't sell you out. It's the first little bonding moment. They're like, "Don't do it. Don't do it." And then, it's actually a really interesting scene here. Yeah, you're right. - That they back you after you've been such a dick the whole time already. But it's funny, 'cause it's like... That's why Hughes is such a good writer. It's like, you think that they're separate from each other, but when he's in the room, we are very much aligned. It's just that notion of the authority figure. He's always trying so hard, Paul. It's great. That's why it's so good. "Get out here, Andrew." This is the best, watch him put his hands on his hips. This is the greatest. He's waiting for it. Damn it! And Emile's so upset that he gets called to do it, it's great. Andrew Clark, get up here. Come on. Front and center. Let's go. It's funny, the more I look at this, Gleason does almost embody this 1950s dad to all of us, you know? You're right, just like the separation of state here. He's like... And Emile wipes out over the thing, it's great. That's very clever, sir. He's so upset. The fall was great. I think violating fire codes and endangering the lives of children would be unwise at this juncture in your career, sir. All right. What are you doing with this? Get this out of here, for God's sake. All of a sudden it's his fault. He flips on him. - Yeah, yeah. ...comes equipped with fire exits at either end of the library. There I am, bobblehead in row one. That's funny. It's so amazing that we're trapped on film at this... This is just a snapshot of where we were. You're not fooling anybody, Bender. See him giving the finger? Eat my shorts. - What was that? You know what's funny, I think, also, is that, because of the rehearsal process, we get to know more about each other a little bit. So, it was more fun. Even getting angry with each other is more fun when you realize that you don't have to make sure that they know it's a scene. You're passed that point. Now we cannot waste any of that time. Let's just... - Right. 'Cause we had a rapport with each other. You can start to talk to the actor, not the role. Yeah. It's cool. Are you through? - No. I'm doing society a favor. - So? That's another right now. You just regress here. - Yeah. I'm losing this argument. You want another one? - Yes. You got it! You got another one right there. That's another one, pal. Cut it out! Stop. You through? - Not even close, bud. You got one more right there. - You really think I give a shit? Another. You through? - How many is that? That's seven, including the one when you asked Mr. Vernon here whether Barry Manilow knew he raided his closet. Now it's eight. Stay out of it. - Excuse me, sir. It's seven. Shut up, peewee. "Peewee." I'm working with that hairdo, it's like a Pompidou comb-over? I don't know what the hell I have. I got you. Judd had some cool hair, though. I'm thrilled. He's great, Paul. He's just like Clarence Beeks. ...a little more time trying to do something with yourself and a little less time trying to impress people. You might be better off. All right. That's it! I'm gonna be right outside those doors. The next time I have to come in here, I'm cracking skulls.

This was great. This was actually written in the... The dandruff bit? - I remember reading it in the script, saying, "That was pretty cool." Again, speaking to the teamwork factor, again, the set, it's amazing. You can't really fully appreciate it, but it really was two levels and it was 360 degrees. It was a real library. It was like that room that you see really existed. Yeah, it's incredible. That was all in this gymnasium at the school that we shot at. That had been shut down, I guess. It's a character in the movie. - Yeah. I really do think the library is a character in the movie. And that's something, when I saw the movie in the theaters, it's just like, "Holy cow, that's the coolest library ever." That little bit of blue is very cool in it. - On the second floor? Yeah, it's like a little hint of it around the way there. It had all those little rooms, too. It was cool. Who has to go to the lavatory? Look at him, he's so angry that even when he asks if we have to go to the bathroom, he's angry.

Now, this was lucky. This piece of paper that falls on her desk was luck. Yeah. - Then when we got closer, then you have to match it and drop the paper in. But that it landed on her desk couldn't have been more perfect. Sets up the Bob Forrest story later. There's a lot of stuff that, Judd, you do just to fuck with stuff throughout this whole thing. The first thing, when you walk in, you steal something, you don't even know what it is. The sign-out sheets. - You just steal the cards... You're just tearing up the book, you're just fucking with the card catalog later. It's a really funny character thing that you pick up that when you're bored or whatever, you're just... There's lots of stuff in a real library like that, and I'm the one guy who is almost encouraged to break the rules. Also, I'm the one character that's been there before, so it gives my character a certain advantage to move more freely through the space. Meaning, it's going to be awhile until the other ones can. But by the end of the day, clearly. And that's what's cool, is the growth of the other four characters in terms of that room now, it's got a special meaning for them. - Sure. Definitely. It's true. Your character kind of leads the rebel charge. He pushes the parameters for everybody, but also forces the rest of us to sort of analyze. You might actually sit there and do your homework if I'm not there, and that would be a rather frightening moment, right there. No, but it's the way in which you antagonize her that sets the stage for everybody testing each other. It's cool. Emilio has an interesting thing where he bounces between everybody, too, where he talks to Molly. They're a little bit, probably, on the more social kind of whatever, but he confronts you, Judd, here and there. He stands up for you, Mike. He is a weird little hub for... Judd, you may be driving the whole thing, but Emilio is almost a touchstone for everybody, a little bit, to have a relationship with. Early on, anyway, which is an interesting role for him in the dynamic, I think. Well, you also can't tell, really, are they all telling the truth? Are none of them telling the truth? At what levels of the truth are they at any given point in the story? And it's all different for all five. Until certain points where it can all even up to the same, and that's really the growth of the idea of the movie. You're an idiot anyway. But if you say you get along with your parents, well, you're a liar, too.

You know something, man? If we weren't in school, I'd waste you. Can you hear this? You want me to turn it up?

Michael, meanwhile, is now 25 inches taller than us. Under no circumstances could Emilio and I together break him. Without a Taser. Would you say, Judd, from the beginning of the movie to the end of the movie, he grew seven feet or something? What I'm saying is that when I did the first audition, when the only other actor I met was Michael, in New York, I was probably, maybe, two inches taller than him. When we started rehearsals, I was maybe a half an inch taller than him. By the end of the movie, when we finished the movie, Michael was taller than I was. And I had already begun writing letters to geneticists. Well, he's got a name. No, it's true. You were getting bigger and bigger. Did your clothes fit at the end of it? - Yeah, I still weighed about 120 pounds. No, I know. But, I mean, you were just getting taller and taller. Just let out the hem on some pants. It was just like, "What?" You were just really growing like a weed. I'm sitting here looking at this and it reminds me, it's really interesting that he... That the script works, that this movie matters. It's like five kids thrown in a room, you don't know where it's gonna go. I guess, ultimately, all these themes are addressed. Trying to see it with fresh eyes. It really is cool that it works somehow. When's the last time you saw the movie? It's been awhile. Yeah, it's been awhile. It's cool. Yeah. - It goes from five people in a room to... But it doesn't seem like that long ago that we shot it. Which is very weird. - Yeah. It was a good experience. So when you look at them, you can sort of see that thin person inside. You see, you're gonna get married. You're gonna squeeze out a few puppies, and then... This is from an earlier draft. - Yeah. This is not the shooting draft. Emilio's taping the butt together was from an earlier draft as well. It was cool that he was willing to let you guys pull that up. - She looks good, doesn't she, Mike? Yeah, he was open to so much. Are you a virgin? I'll bet you a million dollars... What was it like, Mike? You and Molly were the only ones that had to go to school, right? During the day. How was that? - It was an annoyance. It was fun. I mean, you go in there in spurts, but it was funny. A strange distraction, once we were having fun doing this. I know, they would leave, and then I'm like, "Wait, who's this? Who is it? Molly? Can't take a woman out of my eye line."

It's real simple. I'd kill you and your fucking parents would sue me, and it'd be a big mess. I don't care enough about you to bother. I like the bandana on the boot there. Yeah, was that you? - Yeah. Or was that Marilyn? That was you? Judd walked in ready to roll, man. The audition, he was already dressed. Bandana on the boot? - Yeah. This is the best. - Now watch this, watch the knife. And that's about it. That's about it. I just love that. The whole scene, whatever it's about... She'd just shot Bad Boys with Sean, so she was... So for me, it was... She shot Bad Boys? - Yeah. Here's Kapelos. This is where I always laugh. This is where we lost it. It's funny, man. At the end of the scene, he tells us the clock's fast. It's great 'cause he embodies that Chicago guy. That he is, he's from there. But he started out in improv comedy. Just a funny actor. He goes, "Hi, Brian. How you doing, Brian?" It was important, John, too, this character, 'cause he was a connective tissue to the school. That he knew all of us in ways that we didn't realize. So, that was a cool thing. So, the scene sets the stage there, where we take him for granted, and he's really got the one up on us, really. He might have been you guys. He went to the school, right? He might have been you guys. - Yeah, he says that. He has that speech. - Right, at the end of the year. He has that speech where, "I see you guys at your best and your worst," or whatever. This bit. - Yeah. That's another thing about John, Paul and Kapelos here, they're well-rounded characters, just like you guys. The movie is about you guys, but the adults could have just been like, "The bad adult." And these guys, he really does give them another side. And he says great stuff to Paul. This line, yeah. - To the teacher later on. Yeah, they had their own scenes together, too, which are really good. He goes, "I'm the eyes and ears of this institution." And then he tells us the clock is fast. It's interesting, too. That scene that they have together is really interesting later on. - Downstairs. Because I think there's a lot of John in that speech of Gleason's, when he's talking to Kapelos. They represent something interesting, like, "This is what you can be if you don't leave this town, maybe." Yeah.

I don't why that tune was in my head. Yeah, he had The Bridge on the River Kwai thing. I think 'cause he remembered in the original film there was that whole whistling sequence that was part of this old movie. I thought it was cool that Hughes has that character whistle that song. Again, it shows a bit more interesting history than what you would expect. Yeah, you might not think he's seen a whole lot of movies, or something. He's certainly seen that one. This one was definitely one of John's jokes. It was in the script that we would start whistling this, and then it becomes a little symphony before he breaks it up here. I think the cafeteria would be a more suitable place for us to eat lunch in. I don't care what you think. He's so angry with us all the time, it's great. Excuse me, Rich. Will milk be made available to us? We're extremely thirsty, sir. So disrespectful. I've seen her dehydrated, sir. It's pretty gross. There's definitely a shift now. Now we're all playing him. He's like, "Grab some wood there, bub." What, do you think I was born yesterday? You think I'm going to have you roaming these halls? He's just dropping every cliché. And he's chosen again.

And you. Hey! What's her name? Wake her up. Hey, come on. On your feet, missy. Let's go! This is no rest home. Has she spoken yet? - No. How great is that, right?

Just staring at him. She's so good. What's your poison? What do you drink? The sign is pumping irony, too, back there, "Freedom For All." We're all stuck in school. - That's it. Locked in the library. She's so good. Vodka? When do you drink vodka? Whenever. First time she looks up. She's so pretty, too. Why are you here? - Why are you here?

I'm here today because... Because my coach and my father don't want me to blow my ride. This is to your point, Judd, earlier, where you're talking about, "Are they telling the truth, are they not?" He says this little spiel here to her 'cause he's still a little guarded, then later he talks about the real reason why he's there, which is cool. And it's a good scene. I think it's shot very coolly. It's not an extreme close-up. It's a medium close-up. And they're in the sides of the frame facing each other like that. It's really very nice. And you're not hearing anything in the background. They're against white walls, and it's very cool. - The themes are cool there, too, 'cause really what they're talking about, they're testing the projection of each other's parents. "I'm doing this because my dad wants me to do this," basically. Look how you're sitting there, it's so cool, I just love that. You could not be more wrapped up. - Dr. Gangly. How did you hold that position for so long? - I don't know, man. This is so funny, this "elephantiasis of the nuts" here. Would you consider dating a guy like this? Can't you just leave me alone? It's this line. We actually had a photo reference in one those books. The guy's balls looked like a huge medicine ball. Was that a real picture in the book? - Yes. But I don't think he ever owned a pair of pants. I think he was destined for skirts all this life, 'cause he had elephantiasis of the balls. No, it was just... - We had a picture of him, remember? Yeah, it was great. - Did you find it there, then brought it in? Remember those things you do abs on? - Yeah. It was bigger. It was like a kangaroo ball. Like one of those kangaroo balls as a kid, I kid you not. Like a wrecking ball for a set of balls. - Oh, my God. And that's what made it even funnier to us, the whole notion. I go, "Would you ever consider dating a guy like this?" I go, "If he was a good dresser, a good dancer, "if he had a nice car." And then what do I say? "Although you'd probably have to ride in the back, "'cause his nuts would ride shotgun." - Right. His balls would always get in the way. ...that presently you and he are riding the hobby horse. Little pig. - No, I'm not. John said I was a cherry, and I said I wasn't. That's all that was said. The film paid for those braces. They did a magnificent job. You know he's lying, right? Were you or were you not motioning to Claire? Yeah, but it was only... It was only because I didn't want her to know I was a virgin. So innocent. - "What happened to me?" Why didn't you want me to know you were a virgin? Because it's personal business. It's my personal, private business. Well, Brian, it doesn't sound like you're doing any business. I think it's okay for a guy to be a virgin. You do?

It's just so silly, just so overt. By the way, this was when sushi was kind of new as a national thing, so I remember thinking that that was a pretty cool joke. That she brings a bento box? If you bring sushi to work right now, everyone's like, "Yeah." You get sushi at Whole Foods. - And you let it sit all day. If I remember, that was something funny to John, that she'd bring her own sushi. Rice, raw fish and seaweed.

You won't accept a guy's tongue in your mouth, and you're gonna... Where he came from, this part of the world in suburban Illinois, was somewhat affluent, it definitely was, so it wasn't uncommon. Like you'd see, I guess, kids at certain places... Be so pretentious to bring that to a detention room. Or they'd be driven to school. Or they'd have their own BMW, if not driven to school. No, it was so effective. It was such a subtle, little thing, but it really did... I love that he comes from a more blue-collar setting, so he just gets whatever the groceries were in the fridge that day. Just unloaded the pantry into... - But the athlete... You know what's so cool is this. What these five people have for lunch, or don't have, is so consistent from beginning to end in this film. Hughes wrote a great script. Let's talk about that, the lunch stuff, Ally doing the Pixie Stix and the whole thing. That rules. - Yeah. This whole thing, was this in the script or was this stuff you guys brought to it? No, it was in the script. - This bit was, right? Her sushi, her putting the sugar on and the Cap'n Crunch, that's in the script... - And Swizzle Sticks, yeah. I remember she was getting ready to do it, 'cause Ally is a reasonably healthy person, and that was quite a lunch for her that day. It kind of grossed her out to do that. - She was buzzing for seven days. She was a health food fan early on. - Yeah. And next you're eating sugar and Cap'n Crunch. And Coca-Cola. It so great how into it she is making it, too.

It's so great 'cause this whole thing is such little character things, but it also winds up being this bonding thing for you guys as well. I gave him a good slap here, though. Milk? - Soup. That, right there. And I was like, "Sorry." See? You look at your hand. Emilio's sandwich just kept falling apart. Well, Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. It was cool. I liked the shot with the presence of Ally in the background. It's all being pulled closer and closer together as a unit. There's a lot of that. The whole movie you look, the shoot, you guys in front, you're talking to Molly and stuff. And you see Mike, you see Ally. Like you said, it's a really cool thing pulling it all together. That's one of the great advantages to film, as opposed to live theater, is that you can choose what the audience can look at. We want you just to look at this individual image. We want you to see these separate from each other, moving together, together. It becomes a task for John, and our DP at the time was guy named Thomas Del Ruth who shot this, that when you have a movie with five people in a room, yeah, you want to use wide-angle lenses, or things to incorporate, keep other characters alive. - He shot The West Wing, too. He shot the show The West Wing, which is a very classy-looking show. Yeah, he and his brother, they went on to have a very successful rental company, and they're also cinematographers now, both of them. Matthew as well. Remember Matthew, his brother? Thomas was our DP, but then his brother was an AC. But he became a DP. They have a big rental house now. Really? - Yeah. "Oh..."

All right. What about your family? It's real interesting to see, like you said, how many different ways can you shoot five people in a room? This whole thing where he was doing this thing, he's shooting, Judd's at a low angle so it's almost from the point of view of you guys that are still sitting down, right? And then when he shoots you guys, you're still at that level, right? Right. It's like Judd was saying. When we had to do a scene like this, where you see that much depth, you have to light the whole room. Especially when you realize that I'm going to climb up to that platform on the staircase. That depth of lighting means that what you don't see, what's outside of frame are flags and lights and bounce boards. It was like a flag forest. You couldn't really run. If you ran out of frame, you hit something. Judd, you're great in this scene. This is a powerful scene. And this is something I think, all these years later, when I think about why this movie matters to people, because I think it breaks down the stereotypes. I think that's something that people really related to. I don't know if you did that in your audition, but I think you did. Did you? That scene, or no? I don't know. - Anyway, you're just awesome in that scene. Thanks, man. - It's great. Yeah. I think, also, that each character has legitimate, authentic, painful things that happened to them, that they know they have to suffer with, but they're not happy about. And you have to make do. Everyone has to make do. Everyone's got... You have to deal with a lot of stuff. And to pretend that everything is perfect, no one buys it anymore. I think this was the first... So again, your character takes the lead here by exposing that, saying, "This is where I'm from." And even though the mask is your anger, the reality is you're saying, "This is where I come from." And that's why people love this film. Because they can identify with any combination of the characters, or one character more than the other. - Yeah. And then it breaks the walls. In a movie where it's about just four walls, suddenly all these walls are coming down. I think it's kind of cool. It's a great scene. And also, again, it relates to the walls of the library. The library is a very open space. It's like showing that you can all be together. I remember when we rehearsed this, too, you naturally just wanted to run up the stairs, right? And so, then John built the blocking around that so Judd could separate himself. And then he feels like literally hanging himself in a corner of the room, which is what he does here. He runs up the steps to have a moment here. Well, it's really great, too, that you tell the story, you really open up, and then they don't believe you. And that actually hurts Bender. You see that, "What do you mean you don't believe me?" You've been bullshitting the whole morning, but he really opens up there, and it genuinely, really gets to him that they didn't believe him. It's interesting to watch this 'cause I'm looking at the script even more than ever. You start to address the themes, like parenting, your own image of yourself, where you come from. Everyone's bringing it to the table here. Everything's polluted. Everything's polluted. The coffee's polluted. The kids are polluted.

Do you approve of this?

She's already taken my knife, now she's going to take my lock. There you go. - She has great eyes, Ally. You better be right. If Vernon cuts us off, it's your fault, asshole. What did he say? Where are we going? Cool Nikes you had, man. They were nice. You know they were comfortable. Chuck Taylor.

Hot on the run from the grip of the power game The man who leads the way The interesting thing is, how can he be in these spots? It's kind of like M. C. Escher weird. It's like, "What? "We're running, and how does he get there?" It's a weird Scooby-Doo ghost-chase montage, isn't it? Basically. We have to go through the cafeteria. - No, the activities hall. Hey, you don't know what you're talking about. No, you don't know what you're talking about. Now, we're through listening to you. How many different halls and areas did you actually shoot this in? Did you shoot different angles down the usual way? There's three, but we shot them 85 times. There were only two or three stories in the school. I don't remember. - Yeah. But it was cool because we had yellow lockers and red lockers. There were big halls. Today we shoot with a lot of Steadicam in the industry, which is a system where the camera is rigged on a harness to the operator, and then it floats on an arm freely. Remember when we were shooting those scenes, I think that was my first experience shooting with Steadicam, and I remember thinking, "That's kind of cool." We were running down those hallways. No. Just me. What do you mean? Get back to the library. Keep your unit out of it.

That little gate that we run into was really there because there was a special corner of the school that was really used for problem kids. On the weekends, they would have to go there, so I would just go there and torture them at the gate. Because we shot six days a week, so were shooting on Saturday, and every Saturday that little gate would be up and I'd go down there and there'd be one of the kids, and I'd go, "How you doing, you losers?" "What are you talking about?" I go, "What are you going to do about it?" It would get me so psyched up, and then I could go back and do the scenes. I was just incredibly cruel to them. Just yelling at them through the gate? Yeah. I'd just go, "Hey! Anybody there? "I'm going to go smoke. You want... Oh, you can't. That's right." This is a separate gym. This is where we'd run into the Blitz. The Blitz would be doing drills in here. Not liking it 'cause it's that linoleum floor. And he let me put on that one sneaker because I said, "You know how in the gym, there's always a random lost shoe?" I go, "Let's have one. I'll put that on." He was like, "Okay." I'm thinking of trying out for a scholarship. Give me the ball, Bender. Give me that ball. I did it different every time, and I knew he was gonna try and kill me at this point. So, that was the end of one of the many takes? Yeah, jump out of the shoe. You guys work well together. And you just left the shoe there? - He was great. I really liked working with him, because he's just shoving me. He's not going to fake you, and I like that. I'm sorry to inform you, you're going to be without his services... He had this great way of feeling like a coach. Paul played baseball growing up, and I think at a point in his life, I remember him telling me that he had hopes of becoming a professional baseball player. He has that feeling. There's some scenes where he feels like a coach yelling at you. This is one of them. What if your dope was on fire? Impossible, sir. It's in Johnson's underwear. And I know that he's gonna talk about that. 'Cause I never said that in the script. - Really? And if you really say where the thing is, no one will believe you. I mean, the audience already knows where it is. Now if I tell him it's in his pants, there's no way that the teacher is going to believe that, so let's just say it anyway 'cause all it makes crazy is Brian. Because Brian's got it in his pants. It's like, "Why did you tell him that?" It's like, "Don't worry. He's not going to look." Paul made it to the... What? He made it to the Minors, right? Yeah. - He played Minor League Baseball. Let's go. - Keep your fucking hands off me! I expect better manners from you, Dick. I've never seen that library again, so it was John Corso who was our production designer. Yeah. - Great job. Yeah, he did. - Jennifer Polito.

It's so crazy, though, because Gleason being such the quote-unquote bad guy, especially in this scene. At least in that last scene, you feel for him, too. Yeah, you do. And what he's saying here is true as well. And he hasn't really done anything wrong to us, it's what he represents. It's this whole notion, "No one will believe you. "Believe me, you're a bad guy. Who cares about you? "I'm a good guy. People like me." It's that kind of sick thing. - That gets twisted there, but you almost feel sympathy for him in the last scene because you're such a dick, and he's like, "What do you do with this kid?" And then he does this, and you're like, "Wait. Don't do that." He's funny in the scene with Kapelos. Kapelos tells him, he goes, "These are the kids that are going to be looking after me." It's interesting what he said about "your own pathetic life." He's saying that to you, but he's really projecting that of himself. That's the thing. Everybody gets trapped, and we're all forced to look at our own pathetic lives, which, I think, is where the onion starts getting peeled. Yeah. Kapelos points it out to him later. "Thought it was going to be a cush job, but now you're here on a Saturday." And that scene's great. When he goes, "Mr. Wilson, history of mental illness." I really thought Paul was going to whack me here, too. It was great. - This is a good scene. How many times did you guys do this? - I don't know. But I was giving him a hard time all the time, so I thought... You felt like, literally, any possible take he's going to whack you in the head? I thought in this one I was going to get hit. That's all I need. Just one swing. "Gutless..." - Look, there's conflict. There's conflict in all these scenes somehow. Here he's testing Judd. They're testing each other out. It's great. - He called me "gutless." That's what I thought. You're a gutless turd. "Gutless turd." - But it's so great. It's the second point where we get to see you be vulnerable, Judd. There, a little bit. You know what I mean? Where you've got the facade and stuff on, and it's coming back here, when you're getting angry again. But for that minute, you're a little kid again. You're 17. I keep showing off for the other kids, and it ain't working out so great for me. I'm now locked in the room.

What is this? What is that? What... What... What is that noise? What noise? - Really, sir, there wasn't any noise.

Ally's cough. - Yeah, it's like... She's so great. - The most forced cough ever. But it's like, "I'm on the team." - Yeah. And then her laugh. You make book on that, missy. And you! I will not be made a fool of. "I will not be made a fool of," and he's got that toilet seat top.

It was an accident. - You're an asshole. Sue me.

So, Ahab, can I have all my doobage?

Yo, wastoid. You're not gonna blaze up in here. "Yo, wastoid." What was that? "Neo-maxi-zoon-dweebie," was that you? Yeah. - Or was that Hughes? No, it was me. Where did that come from? - Somewhere in high school, I don't know. "Dweeb" came from somewhere in high school. I don't know. Every rehearsal, a lot of times you change things to amuse yourself, and then you keep adding to it. Who know what it means, right? It's worked itself right into pop culture history. The lexicon. Yeah, I know. It's bizarre. Not just a dweeb, but a neo... I mean, there's a lot to it. A lot of layers going on there.

Do you know how popular I am? I am so popular. Everybody loves me so much... This is great stuff for her character, as well. She's so good in this. When you say that... Now that everybody is high, everything starts slipping out. "I'm so popular. I'm so great." She's just wasted. - The truth comes out.

Look at that. He's got so much in him coming out right there. Then he breaks the glass. Just cathartic. Andrew went on to become an opera singer. This is it. Oh, Mr. Tierney. A history of slight mental illness. "A history of mental illness." - He's great there. And he's busted here, too, which is great. This is one of my favorite scenes. Love this. What's happening? What are you doing in the basement files? Oh, nothing. Nothing here. I'm just doing a little homework. Homework, huh? - Yeah. Confidential files, huh? Look at Kapelos. It's so great. Got him over the barrel. But Paul's so real, too, it's great. ...if this would be something that you and I could keep between us. What are you gonna do for me, man? - What would you like? Got 50 bucks? - What? Fifty bucks. No, no, no, man. No, you got a middle name? Yeah, guess. Your middle name is Ralph, as in puke. Your birthday, it's March 12. You're 5'9 1/2". You weigh 130 pounds. And your social security number is 049380913. Are you a psychic? - No. Would you mind telling me how you know all this about me?

I stole your wallet. - Give it to me. No. - Give it! This is great. You're a thief, too, huh? - I'm not a thief. Multitalented. - What's there to steal? Two bucks and a beaver shot. I love that line. "Two bucks and a beaver shot." That's all that's in my wallet still. You're brushing your teeth with Molly's makeup? Yeah, with her eyebrow brush. Are all these your girlfriends? - Some of them. What about the others? Well, some I consider my girlfriends, and some I just consider. Consider what? Whether or not I wanna hang out with them. You don't believe in just one guy, one girl? Do you? - Yeah. It's the way it should be. - Well, not for me. Why not? She looks so good, doesn't she? How come you have so many girlfriends? - I asked you first. I don't know. I guess I never threw anything away. Neither do I. See Hughes. That's great. That's a great Hughes exchange right there. This is great Hughes, too.

That's so funny. "So I can vote." - "So I can vote." This is great. He's so nervous about the ID that he blows his math. Come on. He's not the guy that makes math mistakes. Also cool that we're willing to go through each other's shit at this point. It's pretty funny. - Yeah. And that's just like... - She just grosses us out, tampons flying out of there. - It's kind of scary and it's kind of wonderful about this character, you know what I mean? That she feels compelled to have to be ready to go at any given moment, it's very sad. What is all that stuff? Do you always carry this much shit in your bag? Yeah. I always carry this much shit in my bag. You never know when you may have to jam. She doesn't talk much. You can tell. - Yeah. When it comes out of her mouth, it has a hundred meanings. Every word is really deliberate, too. - Like she's unpracticed. Yeah, it is. Why do you have to do anything? My home life is unsatisfying. So you're saying you'd subject yourself to the violent dangers of these Chicago streets because your home life is unsatisfying? The kid's stoned. I can run away and I can go to the ocean. I can go to the country. I can go to the mountains. I could go to Israel, Africa, Afghanistan. She's so good in this. - Yeah. From beginning to end, I think it's an incredible performance. She stops herself there, like she starts getting on a roll and then she stops herself. Because it's about, I guess, not to get actor-ish, or whatever, but it's her subtext. It's how she's feeling when she's saying it, that you feel. You feel it in her eyes that she's going to burst. It's real. - It's more than her words. Well, everyone's home life is unsatisfying. And if it wasn't, people would live with their parents forever. That's great Hughes. - Great line.

"Guys like you and me." - It's great because he remains stoned. And I think I'm the cool... I feel like he's a peer now because he's... Forget it. Leave me alone. - Wait a minute. You're carrying all that crap around in your purse. Either you really wanna run away, or you want people to think you wanna run away. Eat shit. The girl is an island unto herself, okay? See, what's great is that he did get stoned for the first time, so he's great. You know what I mean? His character if, all of a sudden, was pulling together, it would be like, "No, there's no way!" Hi. You wanna talk? - No. Why not? - Go away. Where do you want me to go? - Go away!

You have problems. - Oh, I have problems. You do everything everybody ever tells you to do. That is a problem. Okay, fine. But I didn't dump my purse out on the couch and invite people into my problems, did I? I think it's cool because they mirror each other here. They see that they are both holding on to stuff. I think when people talk about how it's weird they hook up, but throughout the whole movie, they go to get the milk or whatever earlier, and they have these little moments before the end where they... She just looks right at him, or right away, it's mesmerizing. If Andy doesn't go for this, you know. I remember it being important to John, too, that in the scene, that he sees that she sees him for the first time, which is this moment here, where he knows that she's really looking into him. She wants help right there. And then he sees her beauty at the same time. Again, it's a testament to John and Dede Allen, because once the film is made, a lot of the magic is making sense of all the footage. I remember her coming to the set, saying that she had so much footage because we shot, whatever it was, 10 hours a day. Everybody had to have coverage, so we had performances from everybody all day. So, I remember thinking, when we'd leave the set, we'd be pretty tired. It did feel like we were doing a play all day, because we would get into stuff. It was great. I love this scene, too. When I was a kid, I wanted to be John Lennon. I know that was from John 'cause I remember him saying that. Hughes or Kapelos? - Hughes. I'm trying to make a serious point here. He was being serious. - It's like, what a write-off! Yeah, exactly. - What a dick! "I did want to be John Lennon, you bastard." These kids get more and more arrogant. Oh, bullshit, man. Come on, Vern. The kids haven't changed, you have. It's like an establishment and anti-establishment discussion. Both sides. Thought you could have summer vacations off. And then you found out it was actually work. That really bummed you out. These kids turned on me. They think I'm a big fucking joke. - Come on. Listen, Vern. If you were 16... "What would you think of you?" I love that. You think I give one rat's ass what these kids think of me? Yes, I do. You think about this. When you get old, these kids... When I get old, they're gonna be running the country. Yeah. Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night. That when I get older, these kids are gonna take care of me. I wouldn't count on it. And the theater goes nuts, man. I don't know. Did you guys ever get the chance to see it in the theater with an audience? Did you go see the movie? - Yeah, I did at times. It was fun, actually. Great payoff. - That was always, however many times I saw it in the theater, the theater went nuts when he said, "I wouldn't count on it." Everybody just cheered. - I love that scene, too, because it represents so much of why the film, I think, worked. Because it's people's projection of themselves, and then how everyone really sees you. - Yeah. Again, I think it's one of these core things. Also, Paul is so real in that scene. There's something about Paul that's so good in that scene, you go, "It's just a real guy there trying to get by, too." He lets his guard down a little bit though, right? Yeah, he does. - He's got his character that he puts on. He lets it down for a little bit there. Yes. I'd do that. I'll do anything sexual. I don't need a million dollars to do it, either. Ally the freak. I already have. I've done just about everything there is, except a few things that are illegal. I'm a nymphomaniac. - Lie. Are your parents aware of this? - The only person I told was my shrink. What did he do when you told him? - He nailed me.

Very nice. I don't think that from a legal standpoint what he did can be construed as rape since I paid him. He's an adult. - Yeah. He's married, too. Do you have any idea how completely gross that is? Well, the first few times... - The first few times? You mean, he did it more than once? - Sure. Are you crazy? Look at Judd. You're looking at Molly that whole time. Watching Molly react to Ally doing that stuff, you know what I mean? She took over for you there for a minute, just messing with Molly. It's a good spot. Have you ever done it with a normal person? Didn't we already cover this? - You never answered the question. Look. I'm not going to discuss my private life with total strangers. A little late for that. - Yeah. Well, if you say you haven't, you're a prude. If you say you have, you're a slut. It's a trap. You want to, but you can't. And when you do, you wish you didn't, right? Wrong. - Or are you a tease? The quality of Ally's voice is very good. Also, I like, too, this image of how he put us in the back. You see the whole library, too. It's a nice shot there. The wide shot is cool. You're a tease. - Okay, let me ask you a few questions. I already told you everything. - No. Doesn't it bother you to sleep around without being in love? Don't you want respect? - I don't screw to get respect. That's the difference between you and me. It's not the only difference, I hope. Face it, you're a tease. - I'm not a tease. Sure you are. Sex is your weapon. You said it yourself. You use it to get respect. No, I never said that. She twisted my words around. What do you use it for, then? - I don't use it, period! Are you medically frigid or is it psychological? I didn't mean it that way. You guys are putting words into my mouth. Well, if you'd just answer the question. - Why don't you just answer the question? Be honest. No big deal. - Yeah, answer it. Just answer the question, Claire. - Talk to us. Answer the question! - Answer the question! Don't be a jerk! - It's easy. It's only one question. No, I never did it!

You know, sometimes I wish my knee would give, then I wouldn't be able to wrestle anymore. Then he could forget all about me. I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling.

It's like me, you know, with my grades. Like when I... When I step outside myself and like when I look in at myself, you know.

And I... And I see me.

I don't like what I see. I really don't. What's wrong with you? Why don't you like yourself? Sounds stupid, but,

because I'm failing shop. We had this assignment, you know, to make this, like, ceramic elephant and we had eight weeks to do it. And then, you know, we're supposed to... It was, like, a lamp. And when, you know, when you pull it, the trunk, the light was supposed to go on. But my light didn't go on. I got an F on it. I've never got an F in my life. When I signed up, you know, for the course, I mean, I thought I was playing it real smart, you know, 'cause I thought, you know, I'll take shop. It'll be such an easy way to maintain my grade point average. Why'd you think it'd be easy? Have you seen some of the dopes that take shop? I take shop. "When I look outside myself, I don't like what I see." Yeah, it's very tough. - Interesting. I'm hearing the script again for the first time, and that's also, I think, what this whole sequence represents, that we're exposing ourselves to each other, saying, "What if I don't like how I look to myself? Can I share that with you? "Will you still be my friend?" It's interesting. That's why, even though it's this high school setting, I think, to this day, that's why this movie resonates with people because I think these are questions that transcend certainly the setting of high school. Actually, it's a human thing, it's not a teenager thing. People look at themselves and don't like what they see deep down. But to bring that up, you bring it up for yourself, it's a very strong move. Maybe he's considered the weakling. Not after doing that. And then it's great because Ally helps you out there. She, all of a sudden, takes the spotlight off you, which in a way is good. It's getting a little uncomfortable there. - Right. And everyone's revealing their fears and their guilts, like, "Why are we here?" Why are we here? - Yeah. But you have to swear to God you won't laugh.

All right. That's great! Where'd you learn to do that? Camp. Seventh grade.

That was great, Claire. My image of you is totally blown. You're a shit. Don't do that to her. You swore to God you wouldn't laugh. Am I laughing? - You fucking prick! What do you care what I think anyway? I don't even count, right? I could disappear forever and it wouldn't make any difference. I may as well not even exist at this school, remember? Bender's got a good memory. He remembers that stuff. You know, I have just as many feelings as you do... I think it's cool as I'm watching this, it reminds me of what we were talking about in the first act, where your character really is the catalyst to unearth all the shit, and that forces everybody to change. Your character does really instigate a lot of the changes. It's very interesting. If you think about it, at this point you think everybody's come so far, everybody's opened up a bit. We're all kind of comfortable with each other, but here comes Bender again to dig it all back up and say, "Hey, let's not get too comfortable. We're not there yet, kids." Yeah, that's why Judd was great in that role, you get this sense of anarchy. It's even a word you use in the film. This sense of, he just keeps stirring the pot, which I think is interesting, 'cause it provides all this emotional... I think the true depth of Hughes' work is that these are social issues all of a sudden. It's personal, but it's really about bigger social issues. Yeah."What do I think of myself? Where am I from? "What do I think of sex?" If you think about, if you're in this situation with these people, you get to a level of comfort where they did. Everybody's getting along, you're comfortable. Most people cruise out the rest of the day on that level. "Hey, we got along great. It wasn't that bad." But he keeps going. He just keeps going. And Judd's the linchpin. His character thing is really powerful, too, with the father. There's so much that as men we can relate to with our relationships with our fathers, or our lack of relationship, whatever. I think the real spine of all this is he's saying, "Look, I've been abused. Let's not get cutesy here." He's really exposing himself. And what Ally says here is great. This is a great line. This. When you grow up, your heart dies. Who cares? That's a great line. - No, it's a great line. We're laughing at you, but it is, it's a great line. Yeah, it's one of the challenges of the script, I think. Of life, maybe. - Yeah, yeah. And this is so key. - Here it comes, yeah. What is going to happen to us on Monday... So how many times, over the years, have you guys been asked that by fans or people you meet? - A lot. Like, "What happened on Monday?" A lot, yeah. I'm not wrong, am I? - No. It's really the questions it poses. I think it's really cool. When I hear the script again. Well, what's so great is they don't answer him. It's just so good. - That's the thing. Mike, from this point on, he asks the question and the answer so hurtful. And it's so great that Molly's that honest, though, too. Again, it would be easier for her to spare his feelings there, and she's like, "No, guess what, here's the deal." And she's telling the truth. I mean, it's bitchy, but she's telling the truth, right? If Brian came walking up to you in the hall on Monday, what would you do? I mean, picture this. You're there with all the sports. I know exactly what you'd do. You'd say hi to him, and when he left you'd cut him all up so your friends wouldn't think you really liked him. No way. - Okay. What if I came up to you? - Same exact thing. You are a bitch! Why, 'cause I'm telling the truth? That makes me a bitch? No, 'cause you know how shitty that is to do to someone. And you don't got the balls to stand up to your friends and tell them you're gonna like who you wanna like. Okay, what about you, you hypocrite? Why don't you take Allison to one of your heavy metal vomit parties? Or take Brian out to the parking lot at lunch to get high? I think it's such... John starts this act with Judd shitting on the whole group therapy aspect of it. But then again, he asks a really good question here, which is... He's the one that doesn't let it go. - "How will you respond?" ...you don't look at any of my friends, and you certainly wouldn't condescend to speak to any of my friends! So you just stick to the things you know, shopping, nail polish, your father's BMW, and your poor, rich, drunk mother in the Caribbean. - Shut up! As far as being concerned about what's gonna happen when you and I walk down the hallways of school, you can forget it, 'cause it's never gonna happen. Just bury your head in the sand and wait for your fucking prom! I hate you! - Yeah? Good!

Okay, then I assume Allison and I are better people than you guys, huh? Us weirdoes. Would you... Would you do that to me? - I don't have any friends. It's so great that you get a little bit up on your high horse here, even though, we talked about it earlier in the movie, where you blew off Carl. It's such a great three-point through line for your character, where early on you're talking about how shitty it is to do to somebody here. Earlier on, you totally blow off Carl. Carl is like, "Hi, Brian," and you're like, "Shit." Judd busts your balls and stuff. And here you're like, "Hey, wait a minute, "that's a really shitty thing to do to somebody." Then, later on at the end of the movie, you're like, "Bye, Carl, see you." Carl says, "See you, " and you're like, "Bye." And you acknowledge it. So, you learn your lesson, too. And it's such a subtle thing. Hughes doesn't hit you over the head with it. For years, it's something I never picked up on till I started working on this project. It's a great bit for you. Cool, thanks. Well, then why do you do it? I don't know. I don't... You don't understand. You don't... You're not friends with the same kind of people that Andy and I are friends with. You know, you just don't understand the pressure that they can put on you. I don't understand what? You think I don't understand pressure, Claire? Well, fuck you! Fuck you!

You know why I'm here today? It's so great, you keep your head in your arm there for that, too. I was mustering up the tears.

I'm here because Mr. Ryan found a gun in my locker. Why'd you have a gun in your locker? - I tried. When you pull the fucking trunk on it, the light's supposed to go on. It didn't go on. What's the gun for, Brian? - Just forget it. You brought it up, man. I can't have an F.

I can't have it, and I know my parents can't have it.

Even if I ace the rest of the semester, I'm still only a B. Everything's ruined for me. Brian. - What?

Considering my options, you know. No, killing yourself is not an option. Well, I didn't do it, did I? No, I don't think so. It was a handgun? No, it was a flare gun. It went off in my locker. Really? It's not funny. See, it's funny, it defuses it, but it's a serious... And how poignant is that, still. Not to state the obvious here, but again, it's one of those things that helps keep this movie timeless. I think it's also one of the questions that's raised here is, "Are we going to become our parents?" Which is another interesting thing, too. Are we doomed to repeat a cycle or something? To be like the people that molded us. Especially with the three of you guys, like you said, about fathers and stuff. Judd's got his father issues, you've got your parents. They show your mom earlier. It was great how Dede cut to Judd on that thing where I'm talking about the reason I got here. You can see Judd thinking about his situation with his father. It's interesting. So, there's equanimity by the end here. Yeah. And then the release is the laughter, it's cool. It's great because the distance that Michael's character goes... That is such a great performance, Michael. I'm serious, man. Thanks, man. He's very unhappy and very upset, and is, by the end of the scene, laughing with us. That's quite the gamut, just in that little five minutes or whatever.

You push all the buttons. You gotta hit the tears, the laughter, the whole thing. - '80s dance. Here we go. This is one of the things people point to about the movie. They're like, "And then there's the dance sequence, which is..." But, you know what, it feels good, though, doesn't it? I mean, after such a hard scene. Emilio goes through his shit, everybody yells at Molly, and Michael does his tour de force scene there. It's fun just to let Ally Charlie Brown dance here a little bit. I think it was the product of the filmmaking at that time, too. It seemed to be a popular, in thing, the montage dancing. We wanted to do the boxing training, but it just didn't fit. Don't forget all the break-dancing moves had come out and Flashdance. Montages with music made a lot more sense in the '80s. How do they do that? - John embraced it though, too. I think that for the characters, it was a release, right? It is, it's a release. - It's a way to open it up. In a lot of those movies, it's just suddenly, "And, we dance! "Let's build a float," or whatever it is. - Yeah. In this, it actually is a release. And he's back. Walking a little slower on the way back. I like that you can find your way around through the roof. Yeah, you know exactly where to go. - I'm there every Saturday. I was gonna say that's how well you know that place. You don't even need the halls. I've got an extra two years of school, just on Saturdays. Are you gonna write your paper? - Yeah. Why? Well, it's kind of a waste for all of us to write our paper, don't you think? Well, that's what Vernon wants us to do. True. But I think we'd all kind of say the same thing. You just don't wanna write your paper, right? True, but you're the smartest, right? She's working you. She's working you. - Big time.

Right in front of her dad, too, Judd. - Yeah, and I'm trying to get more. Oh, yeah. - I'll lay her right on the vehicle. He's leaning in for it, man. Judd was pimping. Look at him. Look at him lean in there. Trying to get breast-fed there. I saw that. You were trying to lean in on that. I saw you. - Right in front of her dad. Tinted windows, I didn't see him. - Molly knew. She knew what those lips did to all of us. Down, down, down "Back to that drummer from that Simple Minds band. "Damn, he was good." Dear Mr. Vernon. We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. How was it recording this, Mike? Was it kind of weird? Did you read to picture or anything? It was on the set one day, between scenes or something. Yeah? - Just with the sound mixers, yeah. In one of those rooms there? Well, at least it wasn't in a booth three months later or something. Yeah. Here it is. Here's the shot, right here. Now, was this John or was this just you... What are you thinking as you're walking across the... Obviously, now that you've got the music, we've got the song... We feel it, but look at you right there. And then freeze right there. What are you thinking as you're walking across the field? I don't know if I knew that it was going to be a freeze-frame. Yeah, when you stood like that on camera, it was amazing. That's actually... - He's not, he's still standing there. Yeah. He somehow knew... - That's me holding it. And to keep the jacket like that, with the wind going... That's pretty good. - I think I hurt myself. They rigged that up with strings and stuff. They're like, "Now the credits are still coming out of the stadium. "So, hold on, the credits are still coming out of the stadium." "We are all alike. We are all one." There's the message. It's cool. But also, I think it's so clear from that first quote from Bowie at the very beginning. There's something about the consciousness of the students that's incredible. Listen, we had a great experience, it was a great time. The beginning of our careers. I had fun doing this, it was great. Thank you. - Thanks, Universal. Absolutely. - Thanks for re-releasing it. I think what's amazing is the notion that... I mean, I really believed that they were all going to be like that. In a way, it's profoundly disappointing that they're not. I thought they're going to be that rehearsed and prepared. There's something about it, when the group is forced to coalesce that makes it just wonderful. People thrive under adversity. It was a great experience. No, you're right, we had a good time doing it. We were all thrown together, but it certainly meant more than I thought it would mean. I thought it really had... It's been a real pleasure in my career to see that this movie's affected people over the years. It's really a nice thing. That's why we do it, so it's cool. It's a good script, it really is. Like I've said before, it's like a fast horse. Yeah. - You don't have to use your crop. Just try and stay on. Don't fall off. Because this was really fun. I know. - I miss Hughes. I miss you, man. "I miss you, too." "Let's go to the pub and drink about it." Okay. Talk about old times. Well, guys, listen. Thanks so much. - Thanks for having us. Really, it's been an absolute treat for me. Thanks for working hard on it. - And hopefully, for everybody at home. Thanks, everybody here at this company and NBC UNI, for making it happen. Thank you.