John Hughes Wrote These Movies In Days, Not Months — And You Can Absolutely Tell

That Library Scene In The Breakfast Club? Nobody Was Reading From A Script

The gut-punch confessional scene where the five detention kids finally open up to each other wasn't written at all — Hughes just told the cast to ad-lib the whole thing. Judd Nelson improvised so much of Bender's material, including the iconic ending fist pump, that Hughes almost fired him for staying in character (and bullying Molly Ringwald) between takes. Even the casting was a last-minute scramble: Emilio Estevez was originally set to play Bender before Hughes moved him to Andrew and handed the role to Nelson instead.

Ferris Bueller's Big Parade Number Almost Didn't Happen — Matthew Broderick Wrecked His Knee

Weeks before shooting the legendary "Twist and Shout" float sequence, Broderick tore up his knee running through a neighbor's yard for another scene, forcing him to ditch most of choreographer Kenny Ortega's planned dance moves. To make it worse (or better), the parade itself was real — Hughes filmed the number smack in the middle of Chicago's actual Von Steuben Day parade, and the construction workers and window washers dancing along in the background were just regular Chicagoans who joined in.

Molly Ringwald Only Got Cast In Sixteen Candles Because Of A Headshot Hughes Kept On His Desk

Hughes pinned Ringwald's headshot above his computer over a Fourth of July weekend and wrote her the entire lead role of Samantha Baker before she'd ever auditioned. When it came time to actually cast the part, Ringwald recalled Hughes simply saying he wanted "the girl that I wrote this about," launching her into every Brat Pack movie that followed. Molly Ringwald has since said her feelings about those teen movies have gotten complicated with time.

Steve Martin's Legendary F-Bomb Rant In Planes, Trains And Automobiles Wasn't Even Scripted That Way

In the original script, the car rental clerk was supposed to be silently ignoring Neal on the phone — but on the day of filming, actress Edie McClurg improvised her own dialogue about her Thanksgiving plans, which is what actually pushed Steve Martin into the more explosive, 18-F-word tirade audiences remember. Martin has also said he's still bitter that Paramount forced Hughes to cut John Candy's monologue explaining why Del became a drifter, calling it the best scene Candy ever filmed.

Home Alone's Kevin McCallister Was Written For One Specific Kid — And Robert De Niro Almost Played His Nemesis

Hughes wrote the script in just nine days after a family trip abroad made him spiral about accidentally leaving one of his own kids behind, and he wrote the role of Kevin specifically with Macaulay Culkin in mind after working with him on Uncle Buck. Before Joe Pesci signed on as Harry, the role was reportedly offered to Robert De Niro, who turned it down — and during rehearsals, Pesci actually bit Culkin's finger hard enough to leave a scar he still has decades later. If any of these behind-the-scenes stories have you itching for a Hughes rewatch, let Flickle tell you exactly where to stream it tonight — no ten minutes of scrolling required.