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Molly Ringwald
What She Did Then: John Hughes’ go-to gal won the hearts of jock Jake (Michael Shoeffling) in ‘Sixteen Candles,’ badass Bender (Judd Nelson) in ‘Breakfast Club,’ and doofy Duckie (Jon Cryer) and preppy Blane (Andrew McCarthy) in ‘Pretty in Pink.’ Was there any guy who didn’t love her in the ’80s?

Where She Is Now: Her film career petered a bit after she turned down lead roles in ‘Ghost’ and ‘Pretty Woman’ (good call!), but she earned an MTV Award nod for her cameo in ‘Not Another Teen Movie’ and is currently garnering raves as Charity Valentine in the national tour of the musical ‘Sweet Charity.’

Anthony Michael Hall
What He Did Then: You know that movie where the nerdy kid becomes cool? Well, that’s essentially how Hall’s career played out: He was a supreme geek in ’80s classics like ‘Sixteen Candles,’ ‘Breakfast Club’ and ‘Weird Science’ before he got an itching to play a jock in ‘Johnny Be Good’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands.’

Where He Is Now: As they say, nerds rule the world, and Hall supposedly had a ball playing Emperor Nerd Bill Gates in the 1999 TV movie ‘Pirates of Silicon Valley.’ In 2002, his career was revitalized when his TV series ‘The Dead Zone’ took off. But next year comes his biggest film in two decades: ‘The Dark Knight.’

Andrew McCarthy
What He Did Then: He wooed Ally Sheedy in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire,’ got Molly Ringwald (and teenaged girls everywhere) all hot and bothered in ‘Pretty in Pink,’ tried to get Robert Downey Jr. to quit drugs in ‘Less Than Zero,’ and — we’re ashamed to admit it — made us laugh in ‘Weekend at Bernie’s.’

Where He Is Now: 2008 could be the year Andy reclaims his ’80s glory. He’ll hit the big screen in the high-profile fantasy epic ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’ and star with Brooke Shields in ‘Lipstick Jungle,’ a hot TV dramedy from the scribe of ‘Sex and the City.’ Sounds like everything’s coming up McCarthy.

Ally Sheedy
What She Did Then: Having played ‘War Games’ with Matthew Broderick in 1983, she popularized Pixy Stix sandwiches (also kleptomania and compulsive lying) in ‘The Breakfast Club,’ came between Judd Nelson and Andrew McCarthy in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire,’ and adopted a wacky robot in ‘Short Circuit.’

Where She Is Now: Following a string of TV movies (‘Red Shoe Diaries 4: Auto Erotica,’ anyone?), she earned kudos as a drug-addicted lesbian in the 1998 indie ‘High Art,’ then took over the lead in off-Broadway’s ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch.’ These days she’s back on TV, with guest spots on ‘CSI’ and ‘The Dead Zone.’

Rob Lowe
What He Did Then: Lowe became a highly bankable heartthrob after roles in ‘The Outsiders,’ ‘Hotel New Hampshire’ and ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ … until he did hard time for that unfortunate videotape with a minor. And by “hard time,” we mean 20 hours of community service in Dayton, Ohio.

Where He Is Now: The father of two has Mike Myers to thank for putting him back on the map with ‘Wayne’s World’ and the ‘Austin Powers’ movies. After starring on ‘The West Wing’ and chewing the heck out of his scenes in ‘Thank You for Smoking,’ he’s back in politics (as a Republican this time) on ‘Brothers & Sisters.’

Judd Nelson
What He Did Then: Nelson was the badass of all badasses as detention menace John Bender in ‘The Breakfast Club,’ where he first popularized the adage “Eat my shorts.” Just months later, he “burned deep with passion” as recent college grad Alec Newbary in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire.’ Quite simply, he owned 1985.

Where He Is Now: In one of the most memorable scenes in ‘The Breakfast Club,’ Principal Vernon (Paul Gleason) taunts Nelson’s Bender by saying he has no future. Now, we’re not going to yell “prophecy,” but we do wish we’d heard of a tenth of the 40-plus movies (‘Cybermutt’?) Nelson’s made since.

Emilio Estevez
What He Did Then: Charlie Sheen’s older bro played a tough-nosed greaser in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Outsiders,’ a hot-headed wrestler in ‘The Breakfast Club,’ an Andie MacDowell-obsessed Georgetown grad in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ and Demi Moore’s fiancé in real life.

Where He Is Now: After the wildly popular ‘Mighty Ducks’ movies, Emilio directed ‘The War at Home’ (1996), and nearly quit the biz when it flopped. He didn’t, and last year made a huge comeback writing, directing and starring in the Golden Globe-nominated ‘Bobby.’ That deserves a “Quack! Quack! Quack!”

Mare Winningham
What She Did Then: She was the good-girl virgin in ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ (even though she was pregnant at the time) but then shied away from teen-idol status, earning an Emmy nomination for the TV movie ‘Love Is Never Silent’ and winning Tom Hanks’ heart as a vet in ‘Turner and Hooch.’

Where She Is Now: Proving that nice guys don’t always finish last, she got an Oscar nomination for 1995′s ‘Georgia’ and then pursued a singing career, putting out a handful of folky-country-ish CDs and touring. Most recently, she was Meredith’s sensible stepmom on the hit TV series ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’

James Spader
What He Did Then: He was the resident bad guy of ’80s teen movies, from preppy snob Steff in ‘Pretty in Pink’ to bad influence Rip in ‘Less Than Zero.’ He also helped launch the indie film as we know it, as the star of Steven Soderbergh’s sleeper hit ‘sex, lies and videotape’ (for which he won Best Actor at Cannes).

Where He Is Now: Spader’s still playing slightly despicable characters, but he’s mellowed with age, is a little softer around the middle — and now his cad’s actually a likable fellow: high-priced attorney-with-a-heart Alan Shore on TV’s ‘Boston Legal’ (a role for which he’s won two Emmys).

Robert Downey Jr.
What He Did Then: As Ian in ‘Weird Science,’ he bullied poor Gary and Wyatt; he then starred with Molly Ringwald in ‘The Pick-Up Artist’ and spent a season on ‘Saturday Night Live’ before his brilliant, breakthrough turn as a crack-addict-turned-prostitute in ‘Less Than Zero.’ He also did drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

Where He Is Now: Despite his struggles with drug addiction, Downey remains one of our most gifted actors, earning an Oscar nomination for ‘Chaplin’ and a Golden Globe for his role on ‘Ally McBeal.’ Now sober and working steadily, he’s ready for his biggest gig of all: the lead in Marvel’s superhero movie ‘Iron Man.’

Jon Cryer
What He Did Then: Ah, Duckie: No one will ever lip-sync ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ quite like you. After ‘Pretty in Pink,’ the poor man’s Matthew Broderick starred in ‘Morgan Stewart’s Coming Home’ and ‘Hiding Out,’ provided comic relief in ‘Superman IV,’ and closed out the ’80s with the short-lived sitcom ‘The Famous Teddy Z.’

Where He Is Now: Since his last big film role in ‘Pompatus of Love’ (which he also wrote), Cryer’s bopped around in forgettable sitcoms (‘Partners,’ ‘The Trouble With Normal’) until finding a home — and an Emmy nomination — on ‘Two and a Half Men.’ He’s now filming the thriller ‘Tortured’ with Laurence Fishburne.

source: [moviefone]

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