From editing National Geographic to acting in Christmas movies: What the 1980s 'Brat Pack' are up to now.

Thanks to celebrated coming-of-age films like The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, The Outsiders and Pretty in Pink, the young members of the ‘Brat Pack’ became some of the most famous faces in Hollywood.

The actors and actresses who went from colleagues to friends were mostly in their early 20s, loved by a generation and certified icons of the 80s.

In the group were Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy.

Watch: Retrospectively, The Breakfast Club was a bit of a problematic classic. Post continues below.

The term came from a 1985 New York magazine cover story written by David Blum, who was heavily disliked by the actors he profiled. Invited to a night out with Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Judd Nelson, his story painted them as moody, vapid and entitled.

“What distinguishes these young actors from generations past is that most of them have skipped the one step toward success that was required of the generation of Marlon Brando and James Dean, and even that of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino: years of acting study,” he wrote.

“Young actors used to spend years at the knee of such respected teachers as Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler before venturing out on stage, let alone in movies; today, that step isn’t considered so necessary.”

In 2010, Blum would finally admit to Susannah Gora in her book, You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, And Their Impact on a Generation that he shouldn’t have written the article. But the damage had already been done. Shortly after that article, the ‘Brat Pack’ disbanded.

Here’s what they’re up to now.

Emilio Estevez

The son of legendary actor, Martin Sheen, Blum dubbed Emilio Estevez as “the unofficial president of the Brat Pack”.

After finding fame in the 80s, Estevez, 57, continued to enjoy a successful acting career.

He starred in Disney’s The Mighty Ducks franchise, Sand, Judgment Night and Stakeout. He then began to fade away from public life and moved into directing film and TV, including multiple episodes of CSI: NY, Numb3rs and Bobby and The Public.

Speaking to The Busted Halo, he told Sirius XM listeners that he was ‘publicity-shy’.

“I’ve never been a guy that went out there to get publicity on myself. I never saw the value in it,” he said.

Estevez has also spoken about trying to be a 'role model' for his younger brother, Charlie Sheen.

"All I can do for Charlie, and I can't live his life for him, is to try to be an example. But really, I was a pretty poor one," he told The Sunday Times.

"As a kid, I was smart enough to be surreptitious about all my misbehaviour, or at least stealthy. But it means that my opinions carry little weight with Charlie."

Currently, Estevez is single and shares a son, Taylor Levi Estevez and a daughter, Paloma Rae Estevez, with former model Carey Salley.

He was married to Paula Abdul from 1992 to 1994 and was briefly engaged to fellow Brat Pack member, Demi Moore, in 1985. The two are now friends.

Rob Lowe

After a very damaging sex tape scandal in 1988, it took a decade for Rob Lowe's career to rebound.

While campaigning for Democratic candidate, Michael Dukakis, Lowe was filmed having sex with a 16-year-old girl the night before the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the same tape, he was also recorded in a threesome with friend, Justin Moritt and a model named Jennifer.

 

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Pals. #throwbackthursday

A post shared by Rob Lowe (@roblowe) on Jul 18, 2019 at 9:54am PDT

Recovering from his controversies, Lowe eventually returned to acting and has starred in some of the most popular TV shows of the past 20 years.

He played Sam Seaborn in the political hit The West Wing (1999-2003), Robert McCallister in Brothers & Sisters (2006 to 2010) and Chris Traeger in Parks and Recreation (2010-2014).

Most recently he starred in Christmas movie, Holiday in the Wild, with Sex and the City's Kristin Davis.

Lowe married celebrity makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff in 1991 and they have two sons: Matthew Edward Lowe, 26 and John Owen Lowe, 24.

 

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From my family to yours, Happy New Year. May 2020 bring you peace, prosperity, health and a few laughs.

A post shared by Rob Lowe (@roblowe) on Dec 31, 2019 at 11:36pm PST

Andrew McCarthy

Andrew McCarthy continued landing roles after starring in St. Elmo's Fire and Pretty in Pink. Some of his most memorable roles include playing Joe Bennett in Lipstick Jungle, Hank in The Family and Clay in the 1987 film, Less Than Zero.

From 2013 onwards, the 57-year-old decided to go behind-the-camera as a director. Mainly working in TV, he's directed 14 episodes of Orange is the New Black, and multiple episodes of Gossip Girl, Alpha House and Condor.

McCarthy has also dabbled in other industries, including print media. He is an Editor-at-Large at National Geographic Traveler magazine.

McCarthy has publicly spoken about his struggle with alcohol and drugs which started from the age of 17.

The actor entered into a recovery program in 1992 at the age of 29 and has been sober for the past 27 years.

Speaking about his recovery in 2019, he said: “In sobriety, I was able to find out that if I do the next right thing in front of me, I can have the opportunity to be who I am."

He is currently married to actress and director, Dolores Rice and the couple share a son, Rowan, and a daughter, Willow. McCarthy also has a 17-year-old son, Sam, from his former marriage to his college sweetheart, Carol Schneider.

Demi Moore

From substance abuse issues, intense public scrutiny and blockbuster films, the ups and downs of Demi Moore's career has been well-documented.

Moore, 57, starred in some of the most popular films of the 80s and 90s, like A Few Good Men, Ghost, Indecent Proposal and Disclosure. Her 1996 role as Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame made her the first Hollywood actress to reach the $10 million mark salary.

Annie Leibovitz's Vanity Fair 1991 cover of a nude Moore holding her pregnant belly is iconic.

 

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#FBF filming St. Elmo’s Fire.

A post shared by Demi Moore (@demimoore) on Sep 27, 2019 at 7:25am PDT

The actress' turbulent personal life has also attracted a lot of tabloid attention. She's been engaged four times (she was briefly engaged to Emilio Estevez in 1985) and has been married three times.

Her last name is actually borrowed from her first husband, Freddy Moore, who she married at the age of 18 and divorced in 1985. She shares three daughters with her second husband Bruce Willis - Rumer, Scout and Tullulah - and was married to Ashton Kutcher from 2005 to 2013.

In 2019, Moore also released a tell-all autobiography, Inside Out, which catalogued her alcoholism, teen rape and marriage breakdown with Ashton Kutcher. She was previously a follower of the Kabbalah Centre religion, however, she renounced her association with the group in her memoir.

 

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A post shared by Demi Moore (@demimoore) on Dec 19, 2019 at 9:15am PST

Judd Nelson

It's hard to believe, but Judd Nelson was 26 years old when he played high school student John Bender. Since then, he hasn't stopped acting.

Speaking to the AV Club in 2016, Nelson, 60, described himself as a workhorse, sharing his motto of "work begets work".

He's appeared in episodes of Two and a Half Men, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: NY, Nikita and Empire and played the lead character in the psychological thriller Cabin by the Lake and its sequel Return to Cabin by the Lake.

He also voiced Hot Rod/Rodimus Prime in the 1986 film The Transformers: The Movie and reprised this role in the rebooted anime series Transformers: Titans Return and Transformers: Power of the Primes in 2017 and 2018.

When it comes to his personal life, Judd is notoriously private, preferring instead to only comment on career and acting work. It's unknown if he's married, is in a relationship or has children.

Molly Ringwald

Molly Ringwald was just 16 years old when she starred in The Breakfast Club, playing the posh and snobby Claire. She would continue to star in a bevy of other iconic coming-of-age films like Sixteen Candles, P.K. and the Kid and Pretty in Pink.

Since then, Ringwald, 51, has continued to act in both TV, film and musical theatre productions. Her most popular roles to date include The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Not Another Teen Movie and Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story about prominent AIDS activist, Alison Gertz. She also currently has a recurring role as Mary Andrews in Netflix's Riverdale.

 

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16 in Paris #tbt

A post shared by Molly Ringwald (@mollyringwald) on Dec 19, 2019 at 6:48am PST

Writing for the New Yorker in 2018, she reflected on watching The Breakfast Club with her 10-year-old daughter in a post #metoo context. Ringwald described the experience as "troubling".

“What’s more, as I can see now, Bender sexually harasses Claire throughout the film. When he’s not sexualising her, he takes out his rage on her with vicious contempt, calling her ‘pathetic’, mocking her as ‘Queenie,’" she writes.

"It’s rejection that inspires his vitriol.”

"It’s hard for me to understand how John [Hughes, the director] was able to write with so much sensitivity, and also have such a glaring blind spot."

To date, she has been married twice. Her first marriage was to French writer, Valéry Lameignère which lasted from 1999 to 2002, and her current husband is writer and editor, Panio Gianopoulos. They share three children together, two of whom are fraternal twins.

 

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A post shared by Molly Ringwald (@mollyringwald) on Dec 15, 2019 at 5:10pm PST

Ally Sheedy

After starring in St. Elmo's Fire in 1985, Ally Sheedy experienced her fair share of personal struggles. In 1998 she told the Los Angeles Times that her one-year relationship with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora led her to abuse drugs including Halcion, Xanax and antidepressants.

She would go on to complete stints at the Hazelden Foundation addiction treatment centre in 1985, with another admission in the 90s for an addiction to sleeping pills.

Since then, she's continued acting in roles like Advice from a Caterpillar, Shelter Island and Happy Here and Now.

In 2008, Sheedy announced that she had filed for divorce from her husband of 16 years, David Lansbury. They share a 25-year-old transgender son, Beckett.

Although she later deleted the tweets, in January 2018, Sheedy tweeted the names of James Franco and Christian Slater alongside the #MeToo hashtag, implying that they had sexually harassed or abused her. Franco has denied her accusations.

What was your favourite film which featured the Brat Pack? Tell us in a comment below.

Feature image: Getty.