An actor from ‘The Breakfast Club’ taught Hollywood a lesson on the use of fame
Anthony Michael Hall was one of the most talked-about young actors in Hollywood in the 1980s. After standing out in juvenile films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Sixteen Candles or The Exploding Woman, his name was etched for posterity when in 1985 he joined the cast of The Breakfast Club, the John Hughes classic about five students punished to spend a Saturday in high school.
He was in charge of playing the character of Brian Johnson, accompanying other icons of the decade such as Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy or Molly Ringwald in a title that brimmed with freshness in the representation of the teenage world of that time, with close and endearing characters, high doses of comedy and many reflections on friendship, acceptance or family that still captivate us today.
Anthony Michael Hall’s career didn’t really take off much after this success, but in the 90’s he remained on the crest of the wave with classics like Young Scissorhands, where he played the boyfriend of Winona Ryder’s character, and reached a new peak in his career thanks to Pirates of Silicon Valley, the 1999 TV movie that was nominated for several Emmy awards. In fact, thanks to this work, for which he again attracted the attention of important producers in Hollywood, he was signed to star in The Dead Zone, the Stephen King adaptation in series format, which remained on the air for six seasons and 80 episodes during the 2000s.
Fame smiled on him, but instead of using it for personal whims or to indulge in the excesses of Hollywood’s upper echelons, he used this good work impact to promote humanitarian projects.
Specifically, educational projects to help children who are disadvantaged by economic or cognitive limitations to learn. He did this by partnering with Chapman University in California and creating a program called the Anthony Michael Hall Literacy Club.
The Los Angeles Times of May of that year, we can read about the case of Olga Salce, a young girl who had reading comprehension problems and who, thanks to Anthony Michael Hall’s work, became a brilliant student. In her statements she praised his enjoyable methods and how she was able to lose her fear of expressing herself in class. “It’s a lot of fun and I’ve improved in all my classes. I feel more comfortable asking questions now,” she said.
The idea of creating this program arose in 1998, when Chapman University, which already had its own literacy program run by a teacher named Bobbi Fisher, called Michael Hall asking him for autographs to motivate students to work on their learning deficiencies. The idea was simply to hand out this material to those who participated in the activities, however, the actor didn’t just send autographs, he called the center directly to try to get involved as much as possible. And so this Literacy Club was born, with a special focus on encouraging learning through a passion for reading.
“I love it here. It’s like a family to me,” the star of The Breakfast Club told the aforementioned Los Angeles Times article, where he also stated that an action of these characteristics should be extended to the national level and that many of the profits he earned from fan events, signings and conventions were earmarked for the program. “I think it’s a really important program that’s practical and really helps the community,” he said.
“He’s been very involved with the reading center,” Bobbi Fisher qualified about working alongside the actor. “These students come from an environment where they don’t get a lot of attention, and all of a sudden all these people care about what I’m doing. Hopefully it’s a boost.”
After The Death Zone, Anthony Michael Hall’s professional career was mostly limited to low-status productions, such as thrillers or B-movie horror for television. Still, because of the good name he carries, he dropped in prestigious titles such as Christopher Nolan’s Batman: The Dark Knight, Foxcatcher with Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo, Ben Affleck’s Live by Night or the sequel to the Halloween reboot. In addition, he also launched himself into the musical world by creating a band in the late 90s, although we have no doubt that this humanitarian work with young people, this impetus to help children in need in learning, is among the achievements he most admires in his career. In fact, according to his website, he is still involved in his program today.