How much do you know about 'Brat Pack' classic Pretty In Pink?
Hitting cinemas in January 1986, ‘Pretty in Pink’ is still considered an all-time classic.
The teen rom-com is about a girl who must choose between dating her childhood sweetheart or a rich but sensitive playboy. It has pulled on the heartstrings of generations around the world.
But how much do you know about 'Pretty In Pink?
Here are 10 facts about the film...
I just want them to know that they didn't break me
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Hitting cinemas in January 1986, ‘Pretty in Pink’ is still considered an all-time classic. The teen rom-com is about a girl who must choose between dating her childhood sweetheart or a rich but sensitive playboy. It has pulled on the heartstrings of generations around the world. But how much do you know about 'Pretty In Pink? Here are 10 facts about the film...
Molly Ringwald chose the movie title
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The movie’s title was chosen after Molly Ringwald told director John Hughes about a song she loved called ‘Pretty In Pink’ by The Psychedelic Furs. When the song was originally released in 1981 it was not a big hit, however, the band decided to record another version of the track to coincide with the film's release. It launched the English band's career in the US. In an interview with Seventeen in 1986, John said to Molly: “The title stuck in my head, I thought about your predisposition toward pink. I wrote 'Pretty In Pink' the week after we finished ‘Sixteen Candles'."
Molly Ringwald almost didn't play Andie
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The role of Andie Walsh was written for Molly, however, the role almost went to someone else. John Hughes wrote the script with Molly in mind, but the movie studio originally wanted ‘Flashdance’ star Jennifer Beals to play Andie. In an interview with MTV in 1986, Molly said: “As far as the character, she’s so much like I am, I had to do it because John wrote the script for me right after we did 'Sixteen Candles' … If anyone else played that part it would be like somebody wearing my clothes, you know? I had to do it.”
Charlie Sheen nearly played Blane
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Andrew McCarthy didn’t fit filmmakers’ vision for Blane, however, Charlie Sheen did! Screenwriter John Hughes and director Howard Deutch pictured Blane as more of a confident jock and they considered Charlie Sheen as a contender for the role. However, Molly had seen Andrew’s sensitive performance in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ and wanted him for the role. In the ‘Pretty In Pink: Everything’s Duckie’ DVD edition, Andrew said: “It was Molly, really, who got me the part because - I heard this afterward - she said to John, ‘That’s the kind of guy I would fall in love with, not some square-jawed, hunky guy.”
Jon Cryer almost never got cast
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Howard Deutch wanted Anthony Michael hall to play Duckie, but Molly wanted Robert Downey Jr. Hall felt that the movie was just rehashing ‘Sixteen Candles’ and refused the part. In Susannah Gora’s book ‘You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried’, the director said: “How are you going to compete with Michael Hall? Hall after 'Breakfast Club' was, like, the greatest kid in the universe. And Duckie was Michael Hall. But he wouldn’t do it."
There was tension on set
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Jon Cryer didn’t think Molly or Andrew liked him. Jon previously said: “I think they were irritated by me from day one. I think I made them uncomfortable. They would later label me as ‘needy.’ Not untrue, actually. What I later found out from the director, Howie Deutch, was we were kind of cast to take advantage of that, that it was supposed to be an uncomfortable three-way relationship. And that happened.” Andrew later confirmed the tensions, saying: “He was very sweet, and very needy, and I had no patience for it.”
The first ending was axed
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The first screening of the movie went so brutally wrong that people actually started booing the end, forcing John Hughes pen another finale. Susannah Gora wrote in her book ‘You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation’: “A test screening of teenagers who were watching and loving 'Pretty In Pink' actually booed when they saw the ending where Andie and Duckie end up together, after a lot of soul-searching, the filmmakers ultimately decided to give the audience what they wanted: Andie and Blane ending up together.”
Molly Ringwald hated her iconic prom dress
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Apparently, Molly “hated it" with a "passion". In fact, she disliked the dress so much that John Hughes stepped in to try and change it, before realising the handmade gown was integral to her character. 'Pretty In Pink' costume designer Marilyn Vance told Dazed magazine in a 2013 interview: "She hated that dress! Molly actually hated it with such a passion, you have no idea, I cut up two dresses to make the prom dress, just like she does in the film. Poor John Hughes said — ‘Molly’s in her trailer with her tutor, she hates the dress and he’s whining to me, you can’t make her do that, she hates it.’ I said, ‘Andie is not going to wear like, a Madonna dress. And she’s not going to dress like the other kids, she’s an individual. She’s pulling clothes apart and making her own style.’ And John decided, ‘Okay, that’s it, Molly is going to wear it.’”
James Spader and Andrew McCarthy never went to prom
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The stars attended the prom in ‘Pretty In Pink’ but never went to their own proms. In an interview with MTV, Andrew - who played Blane McDonnagh - said: “I couldn’t get a date, it’s not a tale that I’d really like to talk about - it just wasn’t a big deal, I guess.” In a 1986 interview James - who played spurned rich kid Steff McKee - could relate, saying: “I guess I was a zoid. I dressed funny. I did theatre, and my friends were always the strange group of characters. I didn’t graduate from high school, so I didn’t go to prom. I never went to prom and all the anxiety and fear that prom [provokes] would probably keep me away from a prom today.”
Molly fainted when she shot the original ending
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Molly was ill throughout the shooting of the original ending. She was bedridden for almost a full day, which meant the crew had to scramble to come up with ending scenes they could film around her. It was later reported she had stomach flu and actually fainted into Jon Cryer’s arms while they were filming the prom dancing scene.
Footloose inspired Duckie's dancing
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The ‘Footloose’ choreographer Kenny Ortega taught Jon Cryer some dance moves the night before they shot the iconic Duckie dance scene at the record store where Andie works. Cryer said: “Nobody really anticipated that I was gonna go to town on it the way that I did. Although, I completely blame Howie, because he got me together with Kenny Ortega the night before. And getting together with a seriously world-class choreographer, you’re gonna come up with something.”
Originally published on celebretainment.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
