On February 15, 1985, writer-director John Hughes made an indelible impact on the way teenagers would be portrayed on screen through his movie, The Breakfast Club. The movie, which just celebrated its 35th anniversary, showed what could happen when five teenagers who represent high school architypes are forced to spend a Saturday in detention together.

The quintet of discontent teens are popular Claire, geeky Brian, athletic Andrew, rebellious Bender, and outcast Allison. Though their vice principal chastises them repeatedly to be quiet, they antagonize and insult each other throughout most of the day, convinced that the others can’t understand their individual perspectives. But, despite their obvious differences, the five teens actually learn about each other and realize they have more in common than they would’ve expected.

Upon its release, The Breakfast Club gained both critical and audience acclaim for its unflinching and unpatronizing look at the teen psyche. It is lauded as one of Hughes’ best movies and is considered among the most recognizable and influential teen movies.

The Breakfast Club’s success is also due to its young cast. Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy played the troubled teens with Paul Gleason as the vice principal and John Kapelos as the janitor. They turned in layered performances, appearing comfortable in their stereotypes all the while resenting the judgement from others. The teen angst is heavy, but all five of the young stars were able to flip emotional state to sarcasm, inappropriate jokes, or violent outbursts like the teens they portrayed.

The cast became so well known for the movie, but it nearly had some significant differences. As Hughes was wrapping Sixteen Candles with Ringwald and Hall, he told both about his new project, The Breakfast Club. Hall was already a lock for Brian, but Ringwald was originally offered the part of Allison. She wanted the part of Claire, who had actresses like Robin Wright and Jodie Foster auditioning. Estevez originally auditioned for Bender then was eventually recast as Andrew. John Cusack was originally cast as Bender, but was then replaced by Nelson. Rick Moranis had been cast as the janitor but left because of creative differences and the part went to Kapelos.

Near the end of filming, photographer Annie Leibovitz shot a photo of the cast to be used for the movie poster. Looking confidently into the camera, the five actors portray intensity and unflinching honesty. It became the standard by which most teen movies marketed their stars, showing them as complex rather than two-dimensional.

For 35 years, The Breakfast Club has entertained and inspired audiences vindicating the range of emotions that we feel as teenagers.