Happy Birthday, Anthony Michael Hall! 7 Things You Didn’t Know About the ‘Breakfast Club’ and ‘Reacher’ Star

WEIRD SCIENCE, Anthony Michael Hall, 1985.

Depending on your age and tastes, he might forever be The Geek, Brian the brain, Rusty Griswold, Gary the computer genius, the crime-solving psychic Johnny Smith, the youngest cast member of Saturday Night Live, or the terrifying bully from Edward Scissorhands — but no matter what iconic role you remember him in, Anthony Michael Hall made an impression. The star, who was born on April 14, 1968, is in the midst of a career comeback; after recurring roles onThe Goldbergs, The Blacklist, and Bosch: Legacy, he starred in the third season of the Amazon action thriller Reacher as rug importer and arms dealer Zachary Beck.

Celebrate Hall’s 57th year with some things you almost definitely didn’t know about the star.

1He’s actually Michael Anthony Hall

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION, Anthony Michael Hall, 1983.

Hall started out as a child actor in a showbiz family — his mother was a singer who performed around New York City during his childhood, and Hall began acting in commercials and stage shows in elementary school. But when it came time to join the Screen Actors Guild, Hall, like so many actors before him, found that there was already a member with his name. Since SAG rules prevent any two members from going by the same exact name, Hall flipped his first and middle names.

2He turned down Ferris Bueller

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, Matthew Broderick, 1986

Paramount Pictures/ Everett Collection

Hall’s early star-making turns all came via John Hughes, who wrote 1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation, and wrote and directed 1984’s Sixteen Candles and 1985’s The Breakfast Club and Weird Science. But when it came time to take the next step in his career, Hall passed on an iconic role that Hughes literally created especially for him. As he said in a 1998 AOL live chat, “John actually had written Ferris Bueller for me. We both determined that I should move on to other things. I needed a break. I wanted to try some new things. So I did Out of Bounds. I can only think back and thank John. He changed my life forever.”

3He was almost in Full Metal Jacket

Hall also almost changed his image by starring in Stanley Kubrick‘s 1987 Vietnam War drama Full Metal Jacket. Hall said, “I was offered the film in a conversation with Stanley Kubrick. Then, I had an eight-month negotiation with him. We just couldn’t reach an agreement on a couple different levels, which were financial .. I wanted to be a part of that film, but it didn’t work out. But all sorts of stories circulated, like I got on set and I was fired, or I was pissed at him for shooting too long. It’s all not true.” According to a 1988 Los Angeles Times article, Richard Tuggle, who directed Hall in the film Out of Bounds, said, “As I understand it, Michael left the picture rather than get fired. Kubrick kept changing the starting date, and Michael wasn’t about to make allowances for anybody.” His role later went to Matthew Modine.

4He didn’t audition for SNL

Hall is famous as the youngest performer ever on Saturday Night Live, and for his appearance on a year of the show the incorporated more well-known actors (like Robert Downey Jr. and Joan Cusack), rather than up-and-coming comedians. But Hall wasn’t just rare among SNL cast members due to his age and pre-existing fame; he was also one of the only cast members to not have to audition to secure his part on the show. As he told Rolling Stone in 2025, “Unlike 99 percent of the people that have done the show, I didn’t have to audition and do that whole thing. So it was a warm welcome, and a real honor to get the call from Lorne. After I agreed to it, I was, like, shitting my pants for a month.”

5He appeared in an goth icon’s only film

Goth goddess Siouxsie Sioux has only ever made a real appearance in one film — the 1986 thriller Out of Bounds, where she and her band, the Banshees, rock out as a bar band playing their hit “Cities in Dust.” Out of Bounds is also the movie Hall opted to do instead of Ferris Bueller, to try to change his image, and show audiences that he could play more than just angsty teens.

”Actually, we’re always getting scripts shoved in our faces,” Siouxsie told the Chicago Tribune in a 1986 article about her band’s appearance in the film. ”Unfortunately, they’e nearly always some musical garbage that’s just totally dreadful and calls for us to do something we’d never ever consider doing.” The band had been offered roles in The Howling II, but chose instead to appear in Out of Bounds because “at least they’re just letting us be ourselves, which makes quite a change from the usual offers.”

Though he doesn’t play any music in the film, Hall did have a band, Hall of Mirrors, who released an album in 1998.

6Filming Out of Bounds was a rough time and “lesson I had to learn”

OUT OF BOUNDS, Anthony Michael Hall, 1986.

Everett Collection

Hall picked Out of Bounds to expand how audiences saw him, but he was reportedly difficult on set, and he later expressed regret for his behavior. In a 1988 Los Angeles Times article, he said “I was rude to a lot of people .. I was drinking on the set . . . and had a problem with alcohol that I’ve taken care of and will continue to take steps to take care of. But look, I was 17, and there I was, the youngest cast member ever on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I was flying back and forth, doing the show in New York and shooting a $16-million movie in L.A. … I was living by myself at the Chateau, and though the scene around me wasn’t like an Elvis trip, there was a fair share of that. All of a sudden you’ve got girls whenever you want ‘em, and the place was always full of people I hardly knew. I’m certainly not blaming anyone who was involved in that period of my life, because I’m the one who created that scene around myself. It was part of the lesson I had to learn.”

7He’s been friends with Mike Tyson for 40 years

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A post shared by Anthony Michael Hall (@amh4real)

Hall and Tyson met in 1985, after Breakfast Club actor Paul Gleason took Hall to watch Iron Mike fight at Madison Square Garden. Both were teenagers — Tyson is only two years older than Hall. In a 1988 interview, Hall said of Tyson “I’ve learned a lot from Mike. He told me something very simple. He said, ‘Hey, millions of people have talent–you gotta have talent and character.’” Decades later, Hall referred to Tyson as “a big brother and a real friend” in a 2024 Instagram post. In a 2024 interview on The Rich Eisen Show, he recalled going on a double date with Tyson once — they took their dates to see a play at New York City’s Lincoln Center. It was “very civilized,” Hall laughed.

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