Podcast Episode 10, Classic Characters #1: John Bender (The Breakfast Club)

In episode 10 of my podcast, I discuss the first in a series called Classic Characters. In this first episode of the series I discuss the memorable and much quoted character from John Hughes‘ 1985 Classic, The Breakfast Club. John Bender might’ve been a “rebel” and some say a “criminal” but to many he was a smart mouthed, witty, cocky teen with a chip on his shoulder and endless charisma. His character has a lot of trouble at home and has every right to be angry, but his character has much more depth than that and we get to see his softer side by the films conclusion.

Here’s some of the show notes including fun trivia provided by IMDb:

John Bender, a rebellious teen. John comes from an abusive household. John's parents physically and verbally abuse him.

Judd Nelson (John Bender) stayed in character off-camera, even bullying Molly Ringwald. John Hughes nearly fired him over this, but Paul Gleason (Richard Vernon) defended Nelson, saying that he was a good actor, and he was trying to get into character.

Judd Nelson improvised the part at the closing of the film where Bender raises his fist in defiance. He was supposed to just walk into the sunset, so to speak, and John Hughes asked him to play around with a few actions. When he was done and they were finishing up, Nelson threw his fist up without running it by anyone. Everyone loved it, and it has also become an iconic symbol of the 1980s as well as cinema history. Eventually it was honored in Bumblebee (2018) (a Transformers (2007)'s prequel set in 1987).

Judd Nelson (John Bender) made up many of the terms used in the movie, including "Neo-Maxi Zoon dweebie."

Judd Nelson (John Bender) went undercover at a local high school outside Chicago near where the film 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."

Judd Nelson's clothes in the movie are the outfit he auditioned in for the role of John Bender.

John Cusack auditioned several times for John Bender, even travelling between Chicago and Los Angeles before being cast. However, John Hughes went in a different direction, and dropped Cusack in favor of Judd Nelson, which was heavily influenced by the casting director.

The joke that Bender tells (while crawling through the ceiling), but never finishes, actually has no punchline. According to Judd Nelson, he ad-libbed the line. Originally, he was supposed to tell a joke that would end when he came back into the library and said, "Forgot my pencil", but no one could come up with a punchline for the joke.

The switchblade used in the movie actually belonged to Judd Nelson (John Bender). He explained that he had it for protection purposes.

Judd Nelson (Bender) went to a laundromat in character. The looks he was giving to women there caused someone to call the cops.

It was Judd Nelson's idea for Bender to be wearing a tennis shoe in the gymnasium scene. They are Air Jordans.

Judd Nelson (John Bender) was the last to be cast.

The song which Judd Nelson (Bender) hums the guitar riff to at the beginning of the movie is the opening of "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. Cream's song "Badge" also features in Fandango (1985). Nelson also starred in this movie.

The main reason that John Hughes decided to replace John Cusack (as Bender) with Judd Nelson is that Hughes felt that Cusack was "too nice" to play a character as menacing and angry as John Bender. One bitter irony for Hughes is that he got along very well with Cusack in the pre-production process, while his on-set relationship with Nelson was so bad that Hughes swore he would never work with Nelson again (and in fact never did so).

Bender quotes:

“Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.”

“Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?”

“Uh, Dick? Excuse me; Rich. Will milk be made available to us?”

“EAT...MY...SHORTS!”