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Anthony Michael Hall was one of John Hughes\u2019 most recognizable young stars by the middle of the 1980s, but saying no to two more Hughes movies changed their relationship in a way Hall says he did not fully anticipate.<\/p>\n
During a new conversation with Danielle Fishel on the Teen Beat<\/em> podcast, Hall revisited his decisions to pass on Pretty in Pink<\/em> and Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/em>. He told Fishel that concerns about being stereotyped were already on his mind as a teenager and said those choices ultimately created a \u201crupture\u201d between him and Hughes, according to PEOPLE<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hall now believes Hughes was more hurt by the rejection than he understood at the time. The filmmaker had already played an enormous role in his early career, writing National Lampoon\u2019s Vacation<\/em> and then directing Hall in Sixteen Candles<\/em>, The Breakfast Club<\/em> and Weird Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n Hall was still 17 when he chose to move away from that run of Hughes projects. Instead of making either of the 1986 films, he took a dramatically different opportunity and joined Saturday Night Live<\/em> for its 1985-86 season.<\/p>\n Hall\u2019s hesitation about Pretty in Pink<\/em> was tied to the kind of characters he had already been playing. In the Teen Beat<\/em> interview<\/a>, he said that even at his young age he was conscious of the risk of being typecast.<\/p>\n He also believed the new movie covered familiar narrative ground. \u201cI also felt, to be very honest, that Pretty in Pink<\/em>, it was very similar story-wise to Sixteen Candles<\/em>,\u201d Hall said. \u201cSo it kind of felt like a redo in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n The role offered to Hall was Philip \u201cDuckie\u201d Dale, the devoted best friend of Molly Ringwald\u2019s Andie. Director Howard Deutch has also confirmed that Hall was originally offered the part before Jon Cryer ultimately took it.<\/p>\n Looking back, Hall made clear that his decision is not something he holds against the actors who ended up in the movie. He said he has since met Cryer and Andrew McCarthy and praised the finished films, arguing that there is no value in harboring resentment over career paths he chose not to take.<\/p>\nHall Thought \u2018Pretty in Pink\u2019 Felt Too Close to \u2018Sixteen Candles\u2019<\/h2>\n
Hall Says Hughes Had Written Ferris Bueller With Him in Mind<\/h2>\n