It has been almost 40 years since New York Magazine famously coined the likes of Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Andrew McCarthy and Emilio Estevez, plus a couple more, as the Brat Pack, and they are all finally ready to embrace the term.
Considered members of the Brat Pack — a play on the Rat Pack of the 1950s and 60s that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., among others — were typically those with roles in two iconic movies: The Breakfast Club, by John Huges, and St. Elmo's Fire, by Joel Schumacher, both of which premiered in 1985, the year the famed New York Magazine issue was published.
Much of the crew, which also included Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, were vocal about their dislike of the term coined by the feature's writer, David Blum, who himself has previously expressed his regret about writing the article, after many of the members said the negative connotation that came with the term made them hesitant to ever give into it again.
Rob, Ally, Demi, Emilio, Mare Winningham, Judd, and Andrew on St. Elmo's Fire, 1985
Though some of them said they largely stopped hanging out with one another, or starring in movies together, because of it, that's about to change this TriBeCa Film Festival, with the premiere of Brats, a documentary helmed by Andrew himself, featuring all of his former co-stars and fellow Brat Packers.
Ahead of the June 7 premiere, take a trip down memory lane and look back at what the crew looked like in that unforgettable year.
Demi Moore
Demi starred in St. Elmo's Fire alongside much of the Brat Pack crew, and was engaged to Emilio, with whom she also starred in 1986's Wisdom, until 1987; she later wrote in her memoir Inside Out that she broke up with him after learning he had cheated on her.
Rob Lowe
Rob, Brat Pack member and ultimate heartthrob of the 1980s, starred in Brat Pack and Brat Pack adjacent movies such as The Outsiders, Class, Oxford Blues, St. Elmo's Fire, and About Last Night…
Emilio Estevez
Long considered the unofficial leader of the Brat Pack, the New York Magazine feature was reportedly set to be focused on him, until he took out the writer to go out with some of the crew, which inspired him to turn the feature into the seminal story it later became.
Judd Nelson
Judd, another 80s heartthrob, was best known for his role as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, though he also starred in St. Elmo's Fire and Blue City. His acting roles throughout the 2000s were relatively scarce, and he last starred in a movie in 2022.
Andrew McCarthy
Andrew is both the director and writer of the new documentary, and was the one to lead conversations with every one of his fellow Brat Packers for it. His Brat Pack movies included Class, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, and About Last Night…
Molly Ringwald
Molly could arguably be deemed the Brat Pack-ette, having the most appearances in Brat Pack movies than any of the others, save for Rob and Ally, who also have five credits. Hers include of course Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles, and The Breakfast Club, as well as Fresh Horses and Betsy's Wedding.
Ally Sheedy
Like Molly, there is no true Brat Pack movie without Ally, and she had roles in Oxford Blues, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Blue City, and Betsy's Wedding.
Anthony Michael Hall
Last but certainly not least, there's Anthony, who starred in Sixteen Candles though more famously in The Breakfast Club, as the bookish Brian Johnson.
