Anthony Michael Hall and Molly Ringwald were a 1980s power couple — and she made the first move.
“One of the funniest things that happened during the making of The Breakfast Club was Molly Ringwald cornering me in the school hallway to tell me she had a big crush on me,” Hall, 56, exclusively tells Us Weekly‘s 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me. “We ended up dating. One could say, my character, Brian Johnson, actually got the girl in the end.”
While it’s been years since he and Ringwald were an item — or starred in any movies together — the actor is still rocking the screen. Hall currently stars alongside Jessica Alba in Netflix’s Trigger Warning, and when he’s not on screen, he actually loves to cook.
Scroll down to learn more things that fans might not know about Hall:
1. My favorite country to visit is Italy, where I proposed to my wife. We got engaged in Taormina.
2. My favorite meal is chicken Parmesan with penne marinara pasta. As an Italian/Irish American man, it’s either Italian food or meat and potatoes for me.
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3. I’m a big fan of the great Anthony Bourdain. I was always amazed by how he blended his passions: travel, food, creative writing and exploring cultures.
4. The best way to spend an hour by myself is in prayer, reflection, grounding my spirit.
5. The best meal I cook is brunch. My omelet game is strong, as are my home fried potatoes.
6. During the making of 16 Candles and The Breakfast Club, I’d make [director] John Hughes laugh by imitating Richard Pryor’s characters and bits. My love for Pryor inspired me to ad-lib in the blues bar scene in Weird Science.
7. My pet peeve is negativity. Anywhere you see it, move on.
8. My go-to album is Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin.
9. The most famous people in my phone would be Mike Tyson and Robert Downey Jr.
10. Lynda Carter, a.k.a. Wonder Woman, was the first woman I ever fell in love with as a boy.
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11. When I was young, I wanted to be Bruce Lee and Muhammad Ali.
12. My most starstruck moment was meeting Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in 1986 at a Mike Tyson fight with [The Breakfast Club costar] Paul Gleason, who kindly invited me.
13. I usually get mistaken for myself, which cracks me up. When people ask if I’m me, I respond, “I put that guy to work.”
14. My favorite book is The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. It was transformational for me as a young man.
15. I’m named after my grandfather, Tony DeRosa — Michael Anthony Hall is my given name.
16. I was an ace pitcher on the mound in my Little League days. I had 19 strikeouts in one game.
17. My go-to karaoke song is Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”
18. One of the funniest things that happened during the making of The Breakfast Club was Molly Ringwald cornering me in the school hallway to tell me she had a big crush on me. We ended up dating. One could say, my character, Brian Johnson, actually got the girl in the end.
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19. My favorite place to vacation is Harbour Island in the Bahamas. It’s heaven on earth.
20. My TV heroes growing up in the ’70s were The Fonz and Mork. I met Robin Williams when I was 10, and meeting Mork left me speechless.
21. I’m an insane UFC fan.
22. My guilty pleasure is my Porsche 911 4S Carrera.
23. To decompress, I take off on my bike along the coast for a cruise. Nighttime preferred.
24. My proudest moment was June 6, 2023, at 2:22 P.M., when my wife, Lucia, and I welcomed our son, Michael Anthony Hall II.
25. My favorite smell is the ocean breeze off the Pacific.
