Thursday, October 16, 1997
‘Duckie’ icon Cryer reveals dynamics of film business
FILM:
By Aimee Phan
Daily Bruin Staff
It’s not easy being known as a geek. And Jon Cryer will always
be known as Duckie, the wierdo from "Pretty in Pink."
In a recent chat with the Bruin, Cryer spoke about his latest
film "Plan B," and answered the question: "Why the hell did Molly
Ringwald go off with Andrew McCarthy when she could have had
Duckie?"
You’ve been in both studio and independent features. What is the
difference is between the two?
With a studio film, you have a lot more room to experiment with
more things and you have more time to just mess around. But the
problem is, in the end, you have to answer to a lot more
people.
What’s great about an indie is while you don’t have the time or
resources to do wild, experimental stuff, once you’ve made the
decision, it’s done. You have nobody to answer to but yourself.
Gary Leva, the director of "Plan B," said that he identified
with your character, Stuart Winer, the most because they are both
struggling writers. Did you identify with Stuart?
I have a lot of empathy for Stuart because everybody’s
experienced artistic frustration and he has a huge amount of ego –
which I really loved about him. That’s what made playing this
character fun.
This is the guy who always wrote off his lack of writing success
to the fact that what he did was so personal and small and so
intellectually superior to anything that was out there, and that’s
why people were running away from him in droves.
When he decides to drum himself down and take that step down to
sell out, he finds out no one wants a sell-out. He figures out what
he was doing wasn’t wrong to begin with.
Most students will always remember you from "Pretty in Pink."
Are you still recognized as Duckie?
All the time. On the "Tonight Show" last Friday, people were
screaming "Duckie!" I’m glad that the movie has stuck around in
people’s minds for so long. Obviously, I’ve done a lot of stuff
since then, but actors have to be grateful every time one of their
characters hits a nerve.
It’s really important to have that kind of connection with an
audience. I’m really gratified that people have clung on to that
character so much.
Why do you think everyone loves Duckie so much?
He’s that geek in school who everybody knew was a diamond in the
rough but was too strange for you to fall in love with.
I think everybody also feels like him, even the great looking
quarterback in school feels like he was a geek for a while. He
represented somebody that everybody knew or was a part of them.
Why didn’t Molly Ringwald’s character end up with Duckie?
Originally, she was supposed to end up with Duckie. The problem
was the day that we shot it she was suffering from the stomach flu.
The original ending was that I showed up and we danced the
Moonlight Dance at the prom to David Bowie’s "Heroes."
(Director) John Hughes was concerned that it would be sending
the wrong message of ‘you really should stay with your own class
and there’s no point in reaching out.’ He felt that the audience
would be invested in seeing Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald’s
relationship play out.
Also, Molly had the stomach flu so we weren’t able to shoot the
scene the way we wanted to. We were supposed to get a lot of shots
of us dancing but we weren’t getting them because she collapsed. So
when they actually cut it together, it was a very unsatisfying
ending.
I know a lot of people who thought she should have ended up with
Duckie.
Well, yeah, it’s true, I find it very funny how angry people get
about it. It’s like Bosnia or something. It’s like let it go, she’s
off with Andrew McCarthy, it’s fine.
I’ve moved on.