The retrospective list is framed around the speaker’s own high-school years and five favorite high-school movie characters. — Bill Simmons
The five named favorites are Kelly Preston in Secret Admirer and Mischief, Helen Slater in Billie Jean, Joyce [transcribed Heiser] in Just One of the Guys, an garbled Karate Kid actress, and Mia Sarah in Ferris Bueller. — Bill Simmons
Jennifer Gray in Ferris Bueller is added. — Bill Simmons
Rebecca D. Moray in Risky Business is excluded because her character is not in high school; Molly Ringwald was not a favorite, and Sean Young in Stripes is excluded as an adult. — Bill Simmons
Anthony Michael Hall is proposed as the greatest teenage actor based on Vacation, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science within three years. — Bill Simmons
DiCaprio’s This Boy’s Life, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet, Growing Pains, and The Basketball Diaries are compared, with uncertainty about whether some fall within his teenage years.
Phoenix’s case includes Stand by Me, The Mosquito Coast, Running on Empty, The Last Crusade, My Own Private Idaho, and Little Nikita.
The Hall claim is softened toward most successful or beloved rather than best; his consistently welcome presence remains the defense. — Bill Simmons
Hall’s teenage SNL membership underscores his stature, while later Vacation-series child casting is criticized as inferior. — Bill Simmons
The salesman was right about the family truckster because it completes the trip and survives an enormous crash.
Clark’s attempted infidelity is provocatively defended as a response to repeated rejection; the claim of a sexless marriage is disputed and the pool-waitress excuse remains indefensible. — Van Lathan
Hall’s characters in Vacation, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science are defended as distinct, and he can serve as Chase’s straight man. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Charlie Sheen was considered for Brian Flanagan, which makes sense, and that Robin Williams also was, perhaps when the character was older. — Bill Simmons
IMDb suggests every white actor of the late 80s was considered; only Charlie Sheen is believed. — Bill Simmons
The hosts say Heather Graham was offered Jordan Mooney but declined because she was committed to License to Drive with Corey Haim. — Bill Simmons
Asked whether the movie is better with Shue or a young Heather Graham, the answer is that it is great with Shue, and another agrees. — Bill Simmons
Estevez turned down Cameron; he could have done it, since his Breakfast Club jock has dad problems, but the result with Ruck is preferred.
Estevez, fresh off Repo Man, would have played a punk-rock version rather than Ruck's Cameron. — Chris Ryan
Ruck had auditioned for Bender, which would not have worked. — Bill Simmons
Molly Ringwald wanted to play Sloan; per the hosts, Hughes wanted Mia Sara for her elegance and maturity, and telling Ringwald the part was too small is what you say when you do not want to cast someone. — Bill Simmons
Hughes had only Broderick in mind; the backup is said to be John Cusack, who got his iconic high schooler as Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything. — Bill Simmons
Anthony Michael Hall told Vanity Fair his relationship with Hughes ended after Weird Science and believes roles including Ferris were written for him; one host doubts this, another believes it and calls Hughes vindictive. — Bill Simmons
Bill Paxton was offered the garage attendant, turned it down as too small, regretted it, and was never offered another Hughes role. — Bill Simmons
Paul Gleason was considered for Ed Rooney; as Dick Vernon he would presumably be on administrative leave after the Breakfast Club detention. — Bill Simmons
Gleason would have been distracting; Jeffrey Jones's sitcom, Laurel-and-Hardy energy was the right choice over Gleason's A1-asshole energy. — Sean Fennessey
Anthony Michael Hall first gets a no, withdrawn ('let me rephrase that') for a yes - it is his Apex Mountain because it leads to Weird Science - with the Full Metal Jacket missed chance noted. — Bill Simmons
For Sheedy, St. Elmo's Fire is named as the peak for her and Estevez, though she is good in High Art and Bad Boys.
Hughes's peak is Ferris Bueller; Gleason's Trading Places is called pretty strong. — Bill Simmons
Ringwald's three Hughes films are seen as one work and her stardom as brief but important; Fresh Horses cost her momentum, while Betsy's Wedding is said to hold up. — Wesley Morris
Called the all-time record list: "Bert" Reynolds declined Edward and in 2012 said he made a mistake after seeing the love-making scenes. — Bill Simmons
Al Pacino turned down Edward after a screen test with Roberts; that movie does not work. — Bill Simmons
John Travolta auditioned, and had turned down American Gigolo, which made Gere a star. — Bill Simmons
Read as half-assed internet research: Gere was about to turn the part down when Roberts slid him a "please say yes" Post-it; the hosts doubt it. — Bill Simmons
Gere turned down Gordon Gecko in Wall Street; Michael Douglas is floated for this movie, and Robert "Radford," who did a similar role in Indecent Proposal five years later.
Molly Ringwald turned it down and regrets it; Diane Lane nearly played Vivian but pulled out over scheduling; "Michelle Fife" turned it down. — Bill Simmons
Several other actresses allegedly turned it down, which the hosts do not believe. — Bill Simmons
Drew Barrymore was cast as Sidney before commitments cut her to four days; Molly Ringwald was Williamson's first choice for Sidney; Brooke Shields for the Courtney Cox reporter; Ben Affleck considered for the Skeet Ulrich part; Breckin Meyer for the Jamie Kennedy part; Reese Witherspoon declined to audition for Sidney; Rebecca Gayhart (as transcribed) for the Rose McGowan part; Freddie Prinze (as transcribed) up for a role
Drew Barrymore was supposed to be Sidney and was locked in, the first to buy in and give the script credibility, but commitments left them four days with her, so she played the opening scene, which is thought to have helped the movie.
It is hard to name another 1996 actress who could have carried the first murder with the same weight; Jennifer Aniston pretending to be eighteen is rejected, while Barrymore was famous yet young, a zeitgeist star.
Neve Campbell was caught at a nice point in Party of Five; in a fantasy draft of 1996 actresses including Aniston, Courtney Cox, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Michelle Gellar one host would take her top five for a 25-year career, while another never really got it.
Party of Five trained her to do the sad emotions better than anybody, and she is formidable enough that you believe she would win a straight-up fist fight, which is why Drew Barrymore would not have worked as well in the lead.
Gail Weathers getting punched in the face is another good scene for a host who hated Friends as a kid and still counts Ross as the least favorite character, which draws the remark that this is a hot-takey podcast.
Neve Campbell never found a second stage after starring in a hundred-million-dollar movie; she is thought to have gone artsy and precious with the dance movie The Company, and her House of Cards appearance was greeted as a comeback.
Molly Ringwald was the first choice Williamson wrote the movie for; she turned it down as too old at 27, which would have been a disaster as a high school senior, though an aged-up, harder-edged Gail Weathers might have suited her.
Brooke Shields was in the mix for the Courtney Cox reporter role and Ben Affleck was supposedly considered for the Skeet Ulrich part, but this is one of the few movies where no name could be plugged into any role to improve it.
Jamie Kennedy's part is the one that might have been stepped up, yet Breckin Meyer, who was up for it, would not have worked, because the character has to be annoying in the right way.
Reese Witherspoon was wanted to audition for Sidney and wanted no part of it; she would have been good in anything, even Predator, and instead made the roller-coaster movie with Mark Wahlberg and the gnarly Freeway that year, with Cruel Intentions flagged for a future episode.
Rebecca Gayhart (as transcribed) was up for Rose McGowan's part, though nothing like her, and was then put in Scream 2; after 90210 and the Noxzema ads she looked destined to be a massive star, but like Felicity she was hair dependent in a way that fit only 1996.
Freddie Prinze (as transcribed) was remembered from the research as up for one of these roles; he was neck and neck for everything for three years, and gets away with his acting only in high school movies, so Summer Catch and She's All That cut around his throwing and kicking.
