Molly Ringwald & Simple Minds Celebrate The Breakfast Club 30 Years Later
Actress Molly Ringwald at the Billboard Music Awards. (Photo: Getty Images)
Actress Molly Ringwald became a teen icon thanks to her roles in movies like Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club. At the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, the 47-year old actress who was once known for her flame-red hair stepped out with a blonde pixie cut. Ringwald was there to introduce the band Simple Minds before they sang “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” the opening, and closing song, of The Breakfast Club. “Thirty years ago I was part of the club that made history,” she gushed, before joking. “But now can I be a part of Taylor Swift’s?”
Hard to believe but it’s been 30 years since The Breakfast Club debuted. The film’s theme became one of the top songs of 1985, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “The song went number one this week and it’s still unforgettable,” said Ringwald. The music video had scenes from the popular movie about teen angst starring Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy. Three performers actually turned down the opportunity to sing “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” including Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol.
I recently interviewed Ringwald and she talked about what she loves most about the film. “There is an importance of being yourself and being different,” she says, making the link to The Breakfast Club and why the film has resonated with so many generations of teens. “The message is it doesn’t matter who you are and what you do, everyone feels different and an outsider. We’re all different, but there is something that unites us, and it is a message that’s powerful.” Ringwald recently watched the film with her 11-year-old daughter, Mathilda. “I just showed my daughter the movie, which is funny as a parent because it shows how awful parents are. Some of the mature content went over her head, but it was the message we talked about.”
Growing up in Southern California in the ’70s and early ’80s, Ringwald didn’t feel that she fit in with what was considered beautiful. “The beauty icon was blond hair, blue eyes, and tawny skin. It was everything that I was not,” Ringwald explained. While some would internalize that into feeling less than, Ringwald rose above it, falling in love with who she was. “It was really intimidating for me, until I realized that I was never really going to be that, so it was better to just take what I was and pump it up,” she says. “Big lips were not in when I was a teenager, so I decided to make mine look bigger. If I didn’t have the tawny skin, I would make my pale skin look paler. I would make my reddish hair look redder. I just took everything that I was and just kind of made it even more. That just kind of worked for me.”
Ringwald who has gone on to be an author and jazz singer, actually did her own version of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” in 2013. After 30 years, it is clear won’t be forgetting about the movie, Ringwald, or the hit song anytime soon.
Related:
Molly Ringwald at 47: The Teen Icon Looks Back
What the 40? Tackling the Big Birthday as a Hollywood Actress
