'Breakfast Club' Cast Reunites For First Time In 40 Years—And Explains Why Film Wouldn't Be Made Today

For the first time in 40 years, the cast ofThe Breakfast Club got back together, though this meeting wasn't for detention in a library—it was for the C2E2 Convention in Chicago.

Though most of the cast has appeared in the same room before, this event included everyone: Molly Ringwald ("Princess" Claire), Ally Sheedy ("Basket Case" Allison), Emilio Estèvez ("Jock" Andrew), Anthony Michael Hall ("Nerd" Brian), and Judd Nelson ("Outsider" John).

Can you recognize everyone in their first picture together after 40 years?

This get-together was particularly special, as Estèvez (middle of the second group) has never made any other public appearances with the group.

Ringwald reflected:

"I feel very emotional and moved to have us all together."

"We don't have to use the cardboard cutout [of Estèvez] anymore because he's here. I feel really moved that we're all together."

You can watch the five ascend the stage at the C2E2 Convention here:

Estèvez admitted to the crowd that he frequently missed big events, even high school reunions.

"This was something that finally I felt I needed to do just for myself. This one felt special; it's right here in Chicago where we made the film. It's obviously the 40th anniversary, and it just felt like it was time."

"Somebody told me that Molly said, 'Well, does Emilio just not like us?' and that broke my heart. I went, 'No, of course I love all of them.' And that just made sense, so here I am."

Another anomaly that is important to note is that, with the film industry constantly changing, movies like The Breakfast Club aren't being made anymore.

Estèvez pointed out:

"Movies today are concept-driven, they’re not character-driven, and the beauty of John [Hughes] is that he focused on characters first."

"And when you think about trying to pitch this movie today, and it’s about five kids sitting in a library all day in detention , the studio executives would march you right out the door and say, 'Where are the monsters? Where’s the car chases? Where are the big effects?'"

Fans were stoked to see the whole Club back together again.

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As for a sequel, it's best for everyone to use their imagination.

Judd Nelson confided to the audience:

"I always felt in a weird way that the work was half done, that at some point we would all get back together, because there were too many questions by everyone, like ‘What happens on Monday?’"

"The film is about the fact that everyone has to make that decision for themselves [about] what happens on Monday. But I felt, personally, that it was one shoe and I needed the second shoe, and that could only come from John."

"So his passing was profound for me, because it’s like the work will always be in a circle leaning one direction. What we needed was the one to counterbalance it, because Hughes explained to us the differences between the young and old."

"So now is the time for him to show us where we meet in the end, because we’re all older now, but we’re not going to get that, which is sad. But in a way Hughes has been telling us, ‘Think for yourself.'”

@c2e2/Instagram

Part of the magic of The Breakfast Club will always be deciding who you see yourself the most in, and years later, which character you identify with more now.

But there remains, too, that ongoing question of what happened on Monday after detention, and there's magic in knowing that every viewer might give a different answer.