Judd Nelson declined to be part of the Brat Pack documentary movie, Brats.
The actor’s contemporaries and costars from that era, from the legendary Molly Ringwald to beloved A-lister Demi Moore, have made different choices regarding the doc.
When it came to Judd Nelson, the actor “politely declined” to be a part of it.
Yes, he was part of the Brat Pack — but he has some (understandably) strong feelings on the subject. And on how the story is told.
Will Judd Nelson appear in the ‘Brats’ documentary?
Viewers might see him in footage from iconic 1980s films. But the actor himself did not participate in the ABC News project, which premiered on Hulu on Thursday, June 13.
Andrew McCarthy, like Nelson, was a clear member of the Brat Pack. And Brats is McCarthy’s project.
But Judd Nelson told Us Weekly that he won’t be part of the Brat Pack movie, as he “politely declined” the invitation.
“It seems strange to have that subject matter be something for edited entertainment,” Judd Nelson commented back in March.
“Also, like, [McCarthy’s] a nice guy,” he he emphasized. “But I hadn’t seen him in 35 years.”
Nelson continued at the time: “And it’s like, I’m not going to [be] like, ‘Hey!’ No, dude.”
Who were the Brat Pack members?
To be clear, the “Brat Pack” was not an official label. In 1985, New York magazine branded the cast of The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire under that seemingly derogatory name.
Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Mare Winningham, Molly Ringwold, Jon Cryer, and Ally Sheedy were all clear-cut members of the group. Even if they did not wish to be.
However, other — sometimes more famous — young 1980s actors like Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise, Nicholas Cage, and Sean Penn have sometimes become associated with the label.
The group’s name is, of course, a play on Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack. In the mid-1980s, the Rat Pack was not as distant of a memory as it is today.
Of that group, McCarthy, Lowe, Moore, Cryer, Sheedy, and Estevez (and more) signed up to participate in Brats.
For some, it’s an amazing opportunity to dive into their early years of acting. For others, it’s a chance to remind everyone that they’re still around. Some success stories last longer than others.
Why didn’t Judd Nelson participate in the ‘Brats’ documentary?
“I don’t even know who’s in the Brat Pack,” Nelson admitted. “It’s like, why kind of rebirth something that wasn’t necessarily fun? How can we be experts on something that didn’t really exist?”
“What was so strange is I lived in New York, then I did a movie with people out here [in LA]. So it’s like, then I’m hanging out with them … then when the movie’s over, I go back to New York,” he explained. “I’m not going to be like, ‘Hey, let’s go to Hard Rock Cafe.’ It’s weird.”
In addition to not wanting to exaggerate decades-old friendships, Nelson also did not appreciate the “brat” label. “They kind of portrayed my generation of actors as being entitled and irresponsible and unprofessional,” he recalled. “Whereas my experience was on time. “Everyone knew their lines. It’s so weird.”