Kirsten Howard

Jul 10, 2017

31 years on, Jon Cryer talks about the original ending of Pretty In Pink, and whether Duckie should have got the girl…

Pretty In Pink is still fairly beloved in its own way.

The romantic tale of Andie (Molly Ringwald), a girl from the wrong side of the tracks struggling with an unemployed father and dealing with bullying from her more privileged high school peers who falls for the wealthy and preposterously-named Blane (Andrew McCarthy), is still considered one of director John Hughes’ better efforts.

But the ending originally shot for the movie had Andie ending up with her melodramatic best friend Duckie, who either comes across as a hopeless romantic or classic stalker material, depending on your point of view.

Jon Cryer, who played Duckie in the 1986 rom-com, recently had a chat with Entertainment Weekly about whether he feels Andie and Duckie should have ended up together, as was initially intended before test screening reactions had the studio scrambling to order reshoots where Andie chose Blane instead.

“In the end, I think no,” he said. “I do think the movie is best as it is, ‘cause I think you really do invest in that relationship.”

Which is not to say the Two And A Half Men actor didn’t have a problem with it back in the 80s. 

“At the time, I was annoyed, because I wanted to be the guy who got the girl. And when they told me they were doing reshoots it wasn’t until I got to L.A. — I was shooting another film at the time and they flew me back to L.A. — it wasn’t until then that I got the sides and they told me, ‘Oh, yeah, by the way, your character is not getting the girl anymore.’ I was like ‘Oh, okay.’ I was very stoic at the time. But again, that’s the gig. You got to get involved with people you trust and actually trust.”

30-odd years on, however, Pretty In Pink is still surprising Cryer in unexpected ways.

“I rewatched the movie fairly recently and realised that a lot of people thought Duckie was gay. And that was total news to me as a person that does not happen to be gay and did not intend for that flavour to be in there. Even Molly [Ringwald] herself thought of Duckie as her gay best friend! And I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t think of that.’ To some members of the gay community, he’s kind of an icon and it’s like, great! More power to them!

“I was an effeminate heterosexual dork and I was hoping for one for the effeminate heterosexual dorks out there. I’m glad people bought into it that way. I’m glad they wanted it to happen. A lot of people feel [Andie spurning Duckie] is a historic injustice along the lines of the massacres of Serbia, or whatever. But it is not that. It’s just a movie, folks. I’m happy the way it came out. The movie holds up great.”

We won’t argue with you there, Jon.