On the Fourth of July weekend, John Hughes sat and stared at actress Molly Ringwald’s headshot picture hung up on his bulletin board. He was struck by her look and admired how perfectly she would embody and capture the kind of teenage girl he would want to write a film about. He began writing an entire script just around her face on day one as quickly as he could to see if he liked the idea. He wrote, and wrote, and wrote. About 25 to 30 rewrites were developed to make sure he felt it was a solid film script. On the second day of writing, he continued working quickly over his drafts because he believed his dialogue should be written as fast as he can say it. “No, I don’t sit there for 12 months, because I can’t write dialogue like that,” says Hughes about his writing process. After these two days, he finally sat back in achievement and began his process of producing the film.¹ John Hughes, screenwriter and producer, initially wanted to write a teen movie after seeing how much teen movies in the 1970s all lacked realism. So he developed the idea of his successful teen film, Sixteen Candles. This film traces back to his time of writing when he mainly focused on suburban teen life. He wanted to be able to write a film where he could also reflect on his own experiences as a teenager. This idea quickly gained much success and love from the world.²

John Hughes attended the University of Arizona but left college around 1969 before graduating to pursue his dream career of writing and comedy. While attending college, Hughes was really into comedy and writing, so he began writing jokes and submitting his comedy writing to National Lampoon where he gained recognition. After leaving college, he worked in advertising, working his way up to become a creative director at Leo Burnett. Hughes later explained how much the Burnett agency helped him become the writer he always wanted to be. In 1982, he became a full writer at National Lampoon and gained experience in order to move on to becoming a screenwriter.³

After gaining recognition through his work for National Lampoon, Hughes continued to write scripts and started writing the script for his first teen movie, Sixteen Candles, in 1982. He wrote the script on the Fourth of July weekend, and wrote the whole thing around actress Molly Ringwald’s face. “He had just moved to ICM and I was at ICM at the time, and they’d given him a stack of headshots, and mine was one of them. For some reason, he picked out my headshot and had it up on his bulletin board, and he wrote ‘Sixteen Candles’ looking at my pictures. So I was literally the inspiration for this character and he didn’t know me at all,” recalls Ringwald.⁴ He admired how well she represented the realistic teenage girl he was trying to show the world.⁵ He didn’t like how unrealistic teenage representation was in other teen movies in the 1970’s, so this encouraged him to write about the realistic sides of what it was like to be a teenager in the 1980s. He explains how Ringwald’s character “Sam” and Anthony Michael Hall’s character “The Geek” represented him and his teenage experiences when asked if he was more like Michael Schoeffling’s character “Jake” or “The Geek.” “I was more the geek….There’s a lot of me in her. The way she fits into her family is the way I fit into my family. I know what those feelings are.” ⁶

After writing the script for Sixteen Candles, Hughes’ agent sent the script to Ned Tanen, former president of Universal film division, where Tanen then accepted the film under his new production company: Channel Productions. It later secured distribution through Universal Studios and was signed to be directed by John Hughes.⁷ This ultimately brought the film to life. Hughes’ started casting his actors, which include members of what are known as “The Brat Pack,” the nickname given by the media for actors Hughes mainly loved casting for his films. Actors Anthony Michael Hall as “The Geek,” Michael Schoeffling as “Jake,” Gedde Watanabe as “Long Duk Dong,” and the Cusack siblings as “Geeks.” Molly Ringwald as “Sam” was immediately cast due to the film idea being written around her look and her headshot.

What really sold Hughes to cast Anthony Michael Hall as “the Geek” was how he didn’t represent your typical geek. “Every single kid who came in to read for the part did the whole, stereotyped high school nerd thing… thick glasses, ballpoint pens in the pocket, white socks. But when Michael came in, he played it straight, like a real human being. I knew right at that moment that I’d found my geek,” says Hughes.⁸ Hughes ultimately saw potential and was impressed by all of his chosen actors and also wanted to make sure his recruitment of actors were all within the age range to the characters portrayed on screen: teenagers.⁹

Since these actors were teenagers and were going through the exact same experiences teenagers go through, as portrayed in the film, Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall actually dated while filming the film for about a year. Though it might sound conflicting, there was actually no drama or any arguments between the two. Not only were they good coworkers, but they were good friends as well.¹⁰ Adding onto the “real feel” Hughes wanted to portray within his project, Molly actually picked out all of her outfits for her character “Sam” based on what she personally liked. “I picked out all those clothes. The hat and the layered tops and the dresses. I went to stores on Melrose – can’t remember which ones – with the costume designer and just tried on outfits that I liked.”¹¹

The filming of Sixteen Candles initially began in Chicago, Hughes’ hometown, at Niles East High School in May of 1983.¹²; Holly Chard, Mainstream Maverick: John Hughes and New Hollywood Cinema (Austin, UNITED STATES: University of Texas Press, 2020), 22.] Other filming locations were mainly in homes along the streets of Chicago and the local church, but actual scenes were mainly filmed on built sets. This, again, helped achieve Hughes’ portrayal of teen suburban life. Compared to other directors, while filming, Hughes was known to make his projects feel real and fun. “He approached everything with excitement. Before he used a monitor, he used to just sit under the camera. During ‘Sixteen Candles’ and ‘Breakfast Club’, all the time, he was under the camera or right by the camera. Most directors just use the video screens. But when I worked with him on those first two movies, he was always so close, so it really felt like he was a part of the scene,” recalls Molly.¹³ Filming lasted around two months because Hughes had a clear vision and worked quickly. His quick work always sparked criticism from other experts and the media, but Hughes never cared. His desire to make the film more realistic also allowed actors to improvise during filming, which gave the film a real feel. ¹⁴

Sixteen Candles officially hit theaters on May 4, 1984. “It’s gonna be such a success because people are gonna be able to relate to the geek and they’re all gonna be able to relate to Samantha, Molly,… there’s something in it for everyone, you know,” says Anthony Michael Hall when being asked about how he feels towards the film.¹⁵ The film was a huge success, leading to Hughes’s success and appreciation in Hollywood cinema. This film was popular and loved due to its honest portrayal of teen life. The film did wonders for Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall and their careers in Hollywood, giving them the title of  “teen icons.” This success and recognition of the actors and their work led to the creation of the nickname “The Brat Pack” given by the media because of Hughes’s continuous love of casting actors Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall in multiple of his movies.¹⁶ The themes of awkward crushes, family struggles, teen life, feeling like an outcast, and growing up make the film a classic in teen cinema history.

John Hughes’s success with teen movies like Sixteen Candles led to the creation of more successful teen movies like The Breakfast Club (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986), and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). As quick as his work, Hughes quickly became one of the most influential filmmakers of the 1980s. His ability to capture the realistic teenage experience and add comedy to it made him a defining voice in teen cinema.