Anthony Michael Hall: Stanley Kubrick Phone Calls, Why Movies Lost Suspense & John Hughes Doc
Adam Carolla Show
Anthony Michael Hall, iconic '80s teen star known for roles in Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science, joins Adam Carolla to
Key takeaways
- John Hughes' filmmaking process was deeply rooted in music and personal connection, with his home serving as a creative hub filled with records and family life.
Main topics
- John Hughes' creative process and influence on '80s teen films
- The lasting impact of iconic movies like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles
Notable quotes
"You're stewed, but what? Bill. We all love him, Miss Bill. God, he was so funny in that movie."
Conclusion
Anthony Michael Hall shares heartfelt reflections on his formative years in film, the creative genius
Transcript preview
Speaker 7 (0:00) In this episode, Anthony Michael Hall is in studio, and also we'll do news with Andrew right after this. Speaker 1 (0:07) Your next big win could be just a click away. From thrilling slot machines and classic table games to immersive live dealer action, BetOnline brings the excitement of the casino right to your screen. And when you're ready to switch gears... You'll also find the latest odds, player props, and betting markets covering all your favorite sports. Visit BetOnline today for nonstop Vegas-style entertainment. Enjoy the freedom of online gaming at BetOnline, where the action moves with you and every moment is yours. BetOn at BetOnline. Speaker 8 (0:39) Hello and welcome to PlutoFo. If you know the name of the movie you'd like to see, just stream it for free on Pluto TV, where all your blockbuster favorites are landing all summer long. Catch Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Speaker 1 (0:52) Fantastic. Speaker 8 (0:52) The Matrix Trilogy. Welcome to the real world. Shut Speaker 1 (0:57) up. Speaker 8 (0:57) Titanic. I'm the king of the world. And so much more. For showtimes, press nothing. They're free 24-7. That is so fetch. On Pluto TV. Stream now. Pay never. Speaker 8 (1:16) From Corolla One Studios in Glendale, California, this is The Adam Corolla Show. Adam's guest today, Anthony Michael Hall. Plus the news with Andrew Hobson. And now, Speaker 2 (1:27) Adam Corolla. Yeah, get it on. Got to get on it. Choice, make it on. Mandate, you get on. Good to see Anthony Michael Hall again. I feel like slide that mic into you. Coming in. Speaker 5 (1:40) Yeah, I mean, we all grew up with Anthony Michael Hall. And, you know, it's kind of interesting as I think about those movies, especially the John Hughes ones and like how. How there were almost like a soundtrack is when you're young, you know, like you remember those songs from when you're in high school and they're always that kind of imprinted, you know, like a weird thing. Like if I ever smell fresh mowed grass, I just think about football practice. Speaker 2 (2:10) Right. No matter how old, no matter where I am, no matter how much my back hurts, I just go football. Speaker 5 (2:15) Right. Because Speaker 2 (2:16) you're like a brain. And I Speaker 5 (2:17) feel like so many movies you were in, I mean, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Lampoon, Vacation, everything. It was just like, it's like imprinted on people. I Speaker 3 (2:30) appreciate it, man. Well, one of the things that, one of his strengths, Adam, John, was music and his love of it. But you're right, how we all live in memory, right? How music and films can just bring us back to a place in life. But John was amazing that way. Like, he would integrate all those songs into a soundtrack. When I was a kid making those films with them, I'd often go home to their... their house on the weekends, the Hughes's, and I'd spent time with he and his wife and his two young kids. But his writing room was amazing, Adam. He had a desktop computer in the corner and then floor to ceiling 12-inch records. Almost looked like a record store. Really? So that was really integral to his process, how he wrote all those music cues into the scripts. But he was also just so cool because the scripts are always great, but then he'd let us ad-lib and try a lot of stuff too. But I appreciate what you said, man. Speaker 5 (3:12) Well, you know, thinking about it, you know, we're... Science is a really good comedy that maybe gets categorized into a sort of teen, Hughes, Angst, something, 80-something. But it really should just be amongst the greatest comedies when you talk about great comedies because that movie had more laughs. per minute than, you know, I'll put it up against, say, Woody Allen or Albert Brooks film, even though it's a different category, but that movie had a ton of laughs. And Bill Paxton was out of his mind funny. And you, like, when you went to the blues club and got drunk with the brothers, that was just an awesome piece of comedic acting. And I don't even know. How much of that is scripted or how much of that is you playing? Well, I'll tell Speaker 3 (4:09) you, back to what I had mentioned, the scripts are always solid, the writing was always there, but what we would do, his process was like we'd shoot two or three as written and then we would flow. With respect to that bit, it started on Breakfast Club because I was a huge fan of Carl and as a kid, we're roughly the same age, you're a little older, but he and Richard, and so I would listen to those prior records and I'd come to the set and I'd imitate them or I'd be at the home of the Hughes's watching live on Sunset Strip. So there was this closeness and connection we had. He was like a big brother to me where he let me just try shit, you know, and he was incredible that way. So that's why he set up that scene, which was pretty great. Speaker 6 (4:42) You're stewed, but what? Bill. We all love him, Miss Bill. God, he was so funny in that movie. Yes. And Speaker 3 (4:52) he inserted so much of him. He was from Fort Worth, Texas. You know, there's so much of... The real Bill there. The Paxson family was from Texas, so there's so much Bill and Chet, and we all loved Bill. He was such a great and beloved guy, man. He really was. Speaker 5 (5:05) Sixteen Candles, of course. Now, as I told you, I must tell you, I grew up up the street from the Ringwald, so I go way back. We both lived on Hartsook Street in North Hollywood. They lived in their house. By the way. There are not many people who I grew up with where I went to their house and went, oh, shit, their house is smaller than my house. That was one of the few people who had a smaller Speaker 2 (5:32) house than the Corollas had. Socioeconomics, huh? It was. Speaker 5 (5:37) I Speaker 2 (5:37) mean, sometimes they build houses. A lot of those old valley houses are like, why'd they even bother building a house? You're building it. Just add on another 100 square feet. It's easy. Their house was. Speaker 5 (5:53) 800 square feet with like five people living in it. And it was against, it was off the alley too, which never a good thing in North Hollywood. And they said this little itty bitty house with a blind dad who played the piano and mom. Speaker 3 (6:13) Adele. Speaker 5 (6:13) Adele. Adele who just baked. Yeah. All she did was bake and she fucking loved me because I was in for pie. Like I'd show up and she'd Speaker 2 (6:21) be Speaker 5 (6:21) like, oh, finally, someone who appreciates. Corolla taste test. Yeah. Speaker 2 (6:24) I'd Speaker 5 (6:24) be Speaker 2 (6:24) like, give me that pie, Adele. The kitchen was as big as a coffee table and she was just baking away. Right. And there were no central air probably either. Just baking right through the summer. Permeating the neighborhood. I didn't even know who she was baking. She just never stopped baking. I love it. And I always Speaker 6 (6:40) was there to partake. Yeah, great lady. Very nice lady. And the sister, Speaker 5 (6:45) Beth, who I had a crush on, was in 16 Candles for Speaker 6 (6:50) a moment. Speaker 3 (6:50) That's Speaker 6 (6:50) right. She Speaker 3 (6:51) plays the girl that, it's so funny, when the two parents are trying to bring the nerdy kid and literally force him into the high school dance, she's being carried out by a jock. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. That's Beth. Beth Ringwald, yeah. I love that family. Speaker 6 (7:04) So Speaker 5 (7:04) you have, and by the way, the... TV show, Exiles. It's a SWAT spinoff. It's going to premiere on Star. That'll be coming up in about a month or so. September 25th. Correct. Exactly. Also, Halloween Store as well, which is a horror comedy. That's going to come out this fall. Speaker 6 (7:24) Right. Speaker 3 (7:25) And that's produced by Kenan Thompson's company. Kenan's become a friend. And we have a really great cast, Natalie Lynn in that. And it's a horror comedy we shot in Hawaii last year. Speaker 5 (7:35) You know, Speaker 2 (7:36) It's so funny. Speaker 5 (7:37) I sit around and my phone just puts stuff up, algorithm, whatever, for me to watch. And it puts up a lot of big wave surfing videos, which I don't surf, but somehow I think, but I enjoy watching them. So when a guy takes off on an 80-foot wave, I'll watch. And Speaker 2 (7:58) it'll Speaker 5 (7:59) bring up car stuff. It'll bring up Speaker 2 (8:02) SNL sketches. It'll bring up Zach Galifianakis' Between the Two Ferns. It just brings it up. And I just go, all right. And I was watching, Andrew, Speaker 5 (8:13) I'm going to ask you to find this, an SNL, I don't know if we can play SNL clips. I think we can. It Speaker 2 (8:20) was an SNL clip, and it was Kenan playing a news reporter on a local news station. Speaker 5 (8:28) And I think... The story was there was a flood or sinkhole or something and a bunch of cars fell into the sinkhole. There's a lot of damage. But it Speaker 2 (8:37) was Margot Robbie was in it, I believe. And anyway, the story became that this super hot chick was with this super nerdy guy. Right. And he... He couldn't make heads or tails of it. And that became the story. It's Speaker 3 (8:51) a Speaker 2 (8:51) really funny sketch idea. Not Speaker 3 (8:53) infect the sinkhole. Not whatever the Speaker 2 (8:55) tragedy was. He couldn't get the fact that this super hot blonde was with this nerdy dude. And it just kept getting funnier. But I was literally watching it going, Kenan doesn't really get Speaker 5 (9:07) his due. Like on that show. He is strong on that show. And everyone's always talking about Will Ferrell and everyone else and Dan Aykroyd, and they should. But he was a rock. I mean, he nailed that stuff. When he would be a game show host, Steve Harvey or something like that, he didn't. He didn't hiccup or stumble ever. He was always right there with whatever the part was. And I was just looking at him going, Keenan, I mean, people appreciate him, but he needs to be mentioned. Speaker 6 (9:40) I agree with Speaker 5 (9:41) you 100%. The Speaker 3 (9:42) reliability and also just the endurance. He's now become the longest running cast member, but I'm with you. I think he's brilliant. When I was at the SNL 50 a couple years ago, Adam, it was great and actually very healing for me too because the season I was on was such shit that I think I beat myself up about it for 40 years. What were you, like 19 and a half or something? Yeah, Speaker 5 (9:59) I Speaker 3 (9:59) was 17. I was a kid. Speaker 6 (10:00) Oh, you were 17? Yeah, I was a kid. It is so hard to come into your comedy at that age. Plus, I didn't have a Speaker 3 (10:09) background as a stand-up. I didn't go to Second City or any of those sort of improv groups. But anyway, I was just going to mention that sketch that he did with Will and Eddie and Tracy Morgan. It was hilarious. But I agree with you. I mean, Keenan is incredible. I think we have the Speaker 5 (10:22) sketch. He's Speaker 3 (10:24) such a great guy. He is. Speaker 5 (10:24) He's a sweet guy. I've met him a few times. But it'll... It's just funny. You have to watch how Speaker 2 (10:30) he plays it. Because it's a solid premise, first sketch, but it... It didn't necessarily have to land. Right. He landed it. Right. All right, we'll watch. And by the way, so Margot Robbie's piping hot, and I can't remember Mikey Day or whoever's playing. Like Adele Speaker 3 (10:48) Ringwald's baked Speaker 2 (10:49) goods. Right. It's a piping hot wife and husband team, and the husband's a nerd. Right. Okay, here we go. Speaker 1 (10:58) Action 9's Neil McNabb is live on the scene. Neil. Thank you, Beth. Quite a chaotic scene here. Emergency crews are working hard to assess the damage. Fortunately, no one was Speaker 3 (11:09) seriously hurt, including these two shoppers. Can you tell us what happened? Speaker 1 (11:14) Yeah, sorry. I'm still shaking. I was walking towards my car, and all of a sudden, it sort of just felt like the ground was melting. Yeah, cars fell in. It was crazy. I'm just very happy my wife and I are okay. Speaker 1 (11:33) This is your wife? Yes. So you two are married to each other? Yes, sir. I'm just making sure I heard that right. Well, close call here today for this multi-millionaire and his lovely wife. Speaker 3 (11:54) Nothing about the sinkhole, of course. Yeah, and it just keeps going. Speaker 6 (11:58) Of course, he's unemployed. He's so great. And he just can't figure it out. I also want to say, too, that I think the thing that he shares with Tracy, and I love Tracy, too, is just that likability. Yes. I love this guy, man. I love Kenan. He really is great. What a good dude Speaker 5 (12:11) to partner up with. Yes, sir. Speaker 6 (12:16) Shout out to Johnny Ryan Jr., who's also his producing partner. The Speaker 5 (12:19) SNL pilgrimage back for healing, like a veteran going back to Iwo Jima or something to honor. So many left behind, you know, so Speaker 6 (12:32) young. Yeah. That was a different time. Not to laugh at that, but anyway, yeah. Fair comparison, but I get the analogy. Yes, sir. Well, it was an interesting choice because you're Speaker 5 (12:42) having so much theatrical success that SNL... It's a risk Speaker 6 (12:50) at that stage, right? It is. And as you know, I mean, you've been there. It's Speaker 3 (12:54) rock and roll, theater, everything rolled into one. And there's no guarantees. But having been there, it was an incredible experience. Incredible experience having been there. You know, even when I look back, it was just, I mean, it wasn't funny. Honestly, a lot of it was, it just kind of fell flat in that year. But if you see the Peacock documentary about it, it really details it. The show was on Shaky Legs itself. Dick Ebersole years. Correct. Not Lorne Michael years. That's Speaker 5 (13:21) right. Speaker 3 (13:21) So Lorne created it in 75 at NBC, and then I think Dick Ebersole took over for five years. So the 11th season when I was on, Lorne came back, and that was his first year back. Speaker 6 (13:29) Oh, he was his first year back when you were on. Correct. Oh, wow. So he's essentially produced 46 of the 51 years or what have you. Dick Ebersole was sports, right? Speaker 5 (13:40) Right, he was. Sports, exactly. Which is a weird background for comedy. And you were on with Robert Downey Jr. Dennis Miller. Miller. A bunch of people, yeah. Randy Quaid. Now, that's interesting because... Miller is sort of prickly. Like he's just a smart, super smart dude, but he's just a little bit prickly. I like him. Me too. But he's just like some guys are a little bit prickly. Very sarcastic. And then there's Randy Quaid, but I don't know what version of Randy Quaid you know. I mean, I don't know if he's in exile in Quebec right now. I don't even know. Speaker 3 (14:18) Where's Randy Quaid living? I saw him a couple weeks ago at a signing we were doing. Oh, Speaker 2 (14:21) you Speaker 3 (14:21) did? No, he's Speaker 2 (14:22) a Speaker 3 (14:22) great guy. I think what you're referring to is I think Lorne was, they were experimenting with actors, obviously. There was a bunch of them. Right. It hadn't gone the traditional way. And Speaker 2 (14:29) then Robert Downey Speaker 5 (14:30) Jr., who... Who's he? Oh, God. I don't think he worked after SNL, but he... He is one of the most talented actors out there. I mean, he is just good. Like, really, somehow, you know, doesn't get mentioned with some of the greats, but so versatile and, like, such a good actor. And I only interviewed him once on Loveline and thought he was a real kind of kind. Sorry, he almost had a wise spirit to him. There's something. Something like a shaman. There seems to be wisdom with that guy. It's a life Speaker 3 (15:12) full lived. Yeah, well lived. Absolutely. He's a great guy. And his wife, Susan, is great. They've been really impressive in terms of how they've rebuilt their company and what he's done with his career. It's amazing. Speaker 5 (15:23) Randy Quaid lives in Burlington, Vermont. Does he? Nice. But wasn't he sort of on the lam for a while or something? I had read something about that, yeah. But I didn't know what the full story was. But you saw him Speaker 2 (15:37) a Speaker 6 (15:37) few weeks ago. Yeah, he was great. And he seems normal. He is. He was great. It was great to spend time with him. Huh. What were you guys doing? We were doing a signing. We Speaker 3 (15:46) were Speaker 6 (15:46) doing a Comic-Con. Oh, really? Yeah. Are Comic-Cons all over the place now? They are. I mean, I'll be very upfront about Speaker 3 (15:52) it. I started doing them about 20 years ago. They're great. I go across the country. But as a business, it's really exploded. I mean, when they started, I think, in the 70s, they were primarily for comic book artists. Right. But that's obviously changed. I think when you saw a big uptick is after the financial crisis of 08. But it's a very family-friendly thing. I mean, when I go across the country now, I'm in convention centers. I mean, these are huge, huge shows now. So they're a lot of Speaker 5 (16:14) fun. Is the Comic-Con, are they doing, like, I kind of know this from the car world because, for instance, there's a huge event in England called the Goodwood Festival, and they have the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and then they have Goodwood Revival, and it attracts hundreds of thousands of people, and it gets bigger every year, and there's vendors, and next thing you know, there's all these. big name brands and Ford and Lamborghini and they're all buying boosts and it's turned into a huge thing. And you go, well, how long can that be limited to Chichester, England, you know, before they, and then of course now they're doing a good wood Speaker 6 (16:57) out here. They're going to. Got it. Almost sounds like Sturgis with Speaker 3 (17:00) bikes, but for cars. Speaker 5 (17:01) Yeah. But they're going to franchise because how long are you just going to have Comic-Con in San Diego before someone goes, why don't we have one somewhere else and make money over there and then people won't have to come to San Diego? Right. But are they all different Comic Speaker 2 (17:18) -Cons? Is there like an... You know, I guess like there's cruises. There's 80s rock band cruises. There's stand-up comedian cruises. They're not all the same cruise. Correct, Speaker 3 (17:28) correct. And I think the scale of them has shifted, as I said. A lot of the big ones that I've done, Fan Expo and a lot of big companies, they're in convention centers. But they'll also be in big hotels. And it's a very family-friendly, very nice environment. I like it. And what are people, Speaker 5 (17:42) when they wait in line to get your autograph, possibly get a picture, what are they most... Speaker 5 (17:51) bring up, this sounds stupid, but I mean, like for me, I walk around, some people yell man show sometimes, but then a lot of people yell love line, you know, or something like that. And some people like to catch a contractor show or something. I don't know exactly what they're vibing on when I see them. What you've done so many. Yeah. It's probably Speaker 3 (18:09) not SNL. No, it's not SNL, but it's anything from the Hughes stuff to, you know, in recent years when I was in Halloween Kills with Jamie Lee Curtis, I get horror fans. I mean, all kinds of stuff. Fans of different shows that have been on a lot of TV shows over the decades, you know. So it's always fun for me to kind of... You'll never know Speaker 5 (18:25) exactly what they're into when they come up on you. Right. But it's Speaker 3 (18:29) really nice. You know, it's a fun thing. I enjoy it. Speaker 5 (18:32) I agree. I don't know why... Speaker 5 (18:36) Anybody would make that kind of adulation that you dreamt of growing up. I mean, I had many more years as a civilian than you did. But just, you know, people wanting to pose for a picture with you. You know what I mean? Like, what could be bad about that? How could that ever be a nuisance? I Speaker 3 (18:58) often think there's that great quote of the great writer, Maya Angelou, right? People won't remember what you had or what you did. They'll just remember how you made them feel. So whether you're doing stand-up or what have you, you want to make it a nice experience for people. So I just enjoy it. I have fun with it. I'm grateful for it. And also I think doing those shows has certainly made me a better person too. You're in your shoes. You're dealing with people and you're just expressing gratitude and doing the thing. Yeah, Speaker 5 (19:19) I feel that way. The greatest thing about – I'm on Cameo. And whenever you're on Cameo, whenever you get a request and – The money part is like, it's a hundred bucks a pop. And I don't even, I check the account twice a year or something, but it's not really, I don't count on it. It's not like a form of income for me. I just want it. But the best part about Cameo is the description. They go, this is my husband. It's our 35th wedding anniversary. He's your biggest fan. He loves, he always quotes. He listens and then he Speaker 2 (19:57) quotes Adam. He says, this is an animism. It's like, I should be giving you $100. I've never felt better in my life. Right, Speaker 3 (20:04) right. No, there you go. It's also a reminder just to stay humble. It really is. But also, I like that too because I'm on cameos. Well, it's fun. And what does it take for us? It takes a minute, two minutes. Speaker 5 (20:15) I completely agree. But I have like blue collar. work at McDonald's, work construction, you know, five bucks an hour job to compare it to. So it's easy for me. It's so Speaker 2 (20:30) easy for me to go, fuck, this is nothing compared to what I used to do. But you don't have the A and the B because Speaker 5 (20:37) you were off and running. I mean, it. 15? How old were you when you really got started? Well, you know, when I started Speaker 3 (20:44) in the business, I was actually eight years old. You know, it's been over 50 years now, believe it or not, even though I'm 58. And I started out doing a play with Steve Allen. I did commercials. But back to what you said, look, the value of a dollar, man. That's a conversation we all had with our fathers, you know. And I appreciate it. So it's nice. It's a nice thing to make someone feel good. And you get as much out of it as you give, you know. Speaker 5 (21:05) And you didn't go through. the normal trials and tribulations of the child star, or did you? I mean, I don't know. Was there substance? Well, Speaker 3 (21:16) I Speaker 5 (21:16) was a wild Speaker 3 (21:17) kid. No, I didn't have anything too intense in terms of substance abuse, but dealing with my drinking and dealing with stuff like that in the past, absolutely. I had to learn to kind of taper that, you know, and over time you learn to put things in perspective. I mean, look, I've become a family guy. I have a wife and a son now, and that is everything to me. So it's certainly shifted me. But I was a wild kid growing up. I'm not going to bullshit. You like women? Yeah. I definitely enjoyed my younger days, definitely. Well, Speaker 5 (21:48) you Speaker 3 (21:49) had Speaker 5 (21:50) everything going for you because you were. You were recognizable, you're cute, and you're like non-threatening. And non-threatening, you know, that's the key. The key is to be non-threatening. Because women want to know who you are. They're not even really, the thing about being on TV is people go, oh, she's attracted to that guy because she's famous. And it's like. No, she's attracted to him because she knows who he is. Like, if you're just sitting at a bar next to a random dude and you want to come back to my hotel room, I don't know. There's an issue. There's like a safety Speaker 2 (22:30) issue there. If they know you, like they know you from TV, it's like you went to high school with them and you're in. It's kind of a threat assessment. Almost. Speaker 3 (22:42) But I also think just despite whatever walk of life you are, I mean, women respond to a man's vulnerability, his humor, his sense of humor. So, I mean, I think those things. I Speaker 2 (22:51) think they like sense of Speaker 5 (22:52) humor because I think that's a marker for smart. Yeah. Speaker 1 (22:55) I Speaker 5 (22:55) think they think you can't be funny and not be smart. I think there's an element of that. And I think the smart thing is kind of an attraction. But I don't, see, I don't know if they're making that calculation. Speaker 2 (23:11) per se. Like, I guess I've attracted women because I'm funny, but they don't ever really seem to be huge fans comedically. But maybe it's more that they Speaker 5 (23:22) think, hey, you must be smart if someone's paying me to do comedy. That's Speaker 3 (23:26) interesting. And we'll be back on the new love line right after this. No, that's good points. No, I hear you. I hear you. Speaker 5 (23:31) I was told that Stanley Kubrick Was impressed by you on Six and Candles and wanted you for a full metal jacket? Speaker 3 (23:39) Yeah, that was an incredible experience. What was that like? Well, at the time, I got a call from my agent. It was a gentleman named Marty Barrow. He's no longer with us. He was a great guy. And he called me while I was doing word science. And he said, Stanley Kubrick is interested in you for this Vietnam epic they're going to be making. And he's interested in you playing one of the guys in the core. And I said, that's great. And then two days later, I got a call saying he was interested in me playing the lead. He was going to call me the next day on Saturday morning, which was kind of crazy. So I was staying up at the old Sheridan premiere next to the Universal Tour up there. Oh, Sheridan. Yeah. Remember at the top next to the tour. It's another hotel now, I'm sure. But back in the day, it was the Sheridan next to the Universal Tour. Speaker 6 (24:15) I think Kelly Savalas had a bar. a sports bar in the basement of that place. Telly Savala's Speaker 5 (24:21)