“Just felt like it was time” - Emilio Estevez opens up about his first Breakfast Club reunion in 40 years

Emilio Estevez attended a mini reunion of the full original cast of The Breakfast Club for the first time since the 1985 release of the film, he shared the stage with his co-stars at C2E2 2025 in Chicago.

While the rest of the cast, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy attended reunion panels in the past, Estevez had never shown up before. His involvement in the Don’t You Forget About Me: The Breakfast Club 40th Anniversary Reunion panel caught longtime fans by surprise.

Emilio Estevez revealed why he finally agreed to join the gang this year. Speaking to Josh Horowitz he said:

"But Josh, this one felt special. It’s here in Chicago, where we made the film, and obviously the 40th anniversary, and it just felt like it was time."

The actor also spoke about speculation surrounding his absence from prior reunions. Ringwald once speculated in 1985 that Estevez's absence could mean that he does not like his castmates.

"Somebody told me that Molly said, ‘Well, does Emilio just not like us.’ And that broke my heart. Of course, I love all of them. And it just made sense, so here I am." Emilio Estevez said.

The event, which took place in the same town where The Breakfast Club was shot, honored the film’s milestone anniversary and its lasting legacy. The cast reflected on working with John Hughes as the director, and their personal experiences on set together.

A look into Emilio Estevez’s career after his rise to fame

Emilio Estevez was one of the biggest names in 1980s Hollywood with movies like The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire and The Mighty Ducks series, but over the years, he slowly faded into the background as he spent more time behind the camera. The actor never really quit the business, rather he concentrated on directing, writing and producing.

Following his role as Coach Gordon Bombay in The Mighty Ducks trilogy, Estevez took fewer roles in front of the camera, and focused more on directing.

Estevez made his directorial debut with Wisdom (1986) and later co-starred opposite his brother Charlie Sheen in Men at Work (1990). He also directed The War at Home (1996), a passion project about PTSD and family conflict, in which his real-life father Martin Sheen appears.

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In the early 2000s, Estevez was producing several television shows behind the scenes such as The Guardian, Cold Case and CSI: NY. According to Screenrant, His directing career hit a new peak with Bobby (2006), a critically well-received drama about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

Most recently, Emilio Estevez wrote, directed and starred in The Public (2018), a socially conscious film examining homelessness and the role of public libraries.

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