John Cusack Confirms He Was Never Offered 'The Breakfast Club' Role

John Cusack put an end to long-standing rumors this week regarding a role he never got in John Hughes' "The Breakfast Club." The actor told Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he might have been offered the part, but it did not come to pass. He recalled thinking the script was cool and admitting he would have taken it if asked.

Judd Nelson ended up playing Bender instead, sharing the screen with Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, and Emilio Estevez in that 1985 teen classic. Cusack did appear in another Hughes project though, taking on the role of Bryce in "Sixteen Candles" alongside Ringwald and Hall back in 1984.

When asked about being a teen idol during his youth, Cusack credited his parents for keeping him grounded. He noted he never fell under the hype because he had not accomplished much yet. "I wanted to work with great people and do great movies," he said, admitting he knew better than to buy into the noise. His father, Dick Cusack, always warned him that being a celebrity kills an artist. The focus should remain on the script, the part, and what the story says. Cusack absorbed this lesson early and never took the fame seriously as a teenager.

His career has spanned decades with "Stand By Me," "Con Air," "Grosse Pointe Blank," "The Thin Red Line," "Being John Malkovich," "High Fidelity," and "2012." Now 60 years old, Cusack expressed concern that American cinema feels flat while films from other parts of the world remain awesome. He contrasted this with his early days when he worked on Say Anything in 1989. The producer had previously handled seminal works like Paper Moon and The Last Picture Show. Her mindset was not about making the most money or finding a demographic to connect with, but rather driven by different values.