Judd Nelson

 Judd Nelson went undercover at a local high school outside Chicago near where the film "The Breakfast Club" (1985) was shooting, and convinced the teenagers that he was a legitimate student. After buying beer for them with his "fake ID" (he was twenty-four at the time), Nelson told them to drop him off at the hotel where the actors were staying. Years later, reflecting on his antics, Nelson said, "They would ask me why I was staying there, and I told them my dad was in jail. I'm staying at the Westin O'Hare while my dad's incarcerated."

Nelson's clothes in the movie are the outfit he auditioned in for the role of John Bender. To condition his boots, Nelson poured a quart of motor oil on them, and left them for a day.

Nelson said that most of the close up shots he did with Molly were with her double, since Molly was only 16 at the time; a minor, and had to be in school during much of the shooting schedule, and they couldn't work her after hours either due to the strict labor laws with minors.

Nelson would harass Molly Ringwald off-set as part of his method acting. He would make fun of her blind musician father, touch on other hot button issues, and tease, harass and bully her, much like his onscreen persona. In the book on the Hughes/80s/teen phenomenon movies "You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried" (which is taken from a line from this movie), Ringwald said she "so knew what (Nelson) was doing," and was not phased by his method actor attacks. Hughes, however, was not so tolerant and understanding; he almost fired Nelson because of his antics (ironically, Paul Gleason, who played Vice Principal Richard Vernon, defended Nelson, saying that he was a good actor, and he was trying to get into character). He also said he would "never work with Judd Nelson again" because he was basically acting like his psychopath punk character on the set the whole time.

Happy Birthday, Judd Nelson!