If you were attempting to sum up the ’80s in ninety minutes or less, then there’s no better film than John Hughes ‘ immortal classic Sixteen Candles . It’s dripping with nostalgia .
Below are 10+ behind the scenes secrets about Sixteen Candles that fans didn’t know.
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For better or worse, it perfectly encapsulates the decade. So let’s get into the fun facts!
1. Molly Ringwald was campaigning for Viggo Mortensen to be cast as Jake Ryan.
According to an interview that Molly gave with Access Online “He made me weak in the knees. He really did.”
Who wouldn’t get weak in the knees over Aragorn, I ask you?
2. Both Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald were still teenagers when they made the film.
It’s rare that actors portray their actual age on screen, but John Hughes was longing for that authentic look and feel.
Anthony and Molly had barely turned sixteen at the time. Go figure.
3. Certain scenes haven’t aged particularly well with the cast.
Molly Ringwald was asked to comment on the sexual assault humor that is persistent in the film.
She replied that times “were different and what was acceptable then is definitely not acceptable now and nor should it have been then, but that’s sort of the way that it was.”
She goes on to say that she views her work in a different light now and that sometimes it can be hard to reconcile.
“I feel very differently about the movies now and it’s a difficult position for me to be in because there’s a lot that I like about them. And of course I don’t want to appear ungrateful to John Hughes, but I do oppose a lot of what is in those movies.”
4. This was John Hughes’ directorial debut!
You might be unfamiliar with the name John Hughes , but you’re more than familiar with his work. John was the legendary director behind hit films like Planes, Trains & Automobiles, The Breakfast Club , and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off .
He also wrote Home Alone , The Great Outdoors , and one of my all-time favorites, Vacation .
5. Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald crashed a Bat-Mitzvah just to pass the time.
As I mentioned earlier, the two young actors were still very much underage . Skokie, Illinois offered very little in terms of entertainment for two sixteen-year-olds.
In case you were curious, a Bat-Mitzvah is a rite of passage in the Jewish faith wherein a young girl becomes a woman.
6. The character of Long Duk Dong received heavy criticism.
“It took me a while to understand that,” says actor Gedde Watanabe.
“In fact, I was working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I was accosted a couple of times by a couple of women who were just really irate and angry.”
Gedde said that they even began questioning his integrity.
“They asked, ‘How could you do a role like that?’ But it’s funny, too, because at the same time I laugh at the character. It’s an odd animal.”
Watanabe still receives heavy criticism from the Asian community even to this day.
7. The cake that Jake gave to Sam was actually made of cardboard.
I guess Jake was just a really big cheapskate in the end.
I understand the impracticality of using a real cake on set, but you can’t deny that it takes some of the magic out of the scene.
8. Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald began dating after filming wrapped.
Their relationship was incredibly brief but it ended amicably.
By the time that the pair had finished wrapping up their scenes on The Breakfast Club they were already broken up.
9. Music was a huge part in John Hughes creative process.
“As a teenager he loved the Beatles , and as a grown man he always wrote scripts with music playing. He often came up with the idea for a film soundtrack before he even wrote the script.”
10. The film was named the favorite romantic comedy in the state of Illinois!
According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times , a company called Comparitech “compiled data from Google Trends to identify the top romantic comedies in each state.”
I’ll bet you $1000 that Washington’s favorite film is Sleepless in Seattle .
11. There’s a deleted scene that’s only viewable in the TV-version of the film.
This is one of the most coveted Sixteen Candles facts. The scene doesn’t appear in the theatrical release, the VHS, or even in the DVD extras.
It can only be seen if you happen to find a copy of the televised version of the film.
12. There’s an Easter Egg to yet another John Hughes film.
If you look at the license plate of Smanatha’s grandparents’ car, it reads V58. This is an allusion to a short story that Hughes wrote called ” Vacation 58 “.
This would go on to serve as the inspiration for the Vacation films.
The same goes for the number on the back of Jake’s Porsche!
The license plate on Jake’s car is 21850. John Hughes was born on February 18, 1950 !
I still don’t know if including that little Easter Egg is brilliance or vanity – what do you think?
