The role: John Bender Cast Instead: Judd Nelson Back before Cage had made his big movie break, he was playing an assortment of tough guy roles, and he was in the early running to continue his form for John Hughes in the soon-to-be-classic The Breakfast Club. In the end, Judd Nelson bagged the juicest role of the entire production, fending off interest from cast-mate Emilio Estevez and John Cusack, and committing an icon to screen. Why He Would Have Ruined It... When you think of The Breakfast Club, you don't think Emilio Estevez, or Ally Sheedy, or even Molly Ringwold: the first image that should pop into your head, is of the triumphant John Bender, played to perfection by Judd Nelson, striding across the football field with his fist in the air. Nelson inhabited that role, even to the point where his attitude almost got him fired - particularly thanks to his treatment of Ringwold - and the mere suggestion of anyone else in that iconic leather jacket is a downright abomination. Additionally, back in his early days, Cage wasn't actually very good. Yes, he was suited to roles in Rumble Fish and Valley Girl, but he couldn't actually act, which was proved horribly and comically correct when he turned up as a gangster in The Cotton Club. He was awkward, uncomfortable and inauthentic, and it took until 1986 for him to really blossom with Peggy Sue Got Married and then Raising Arizona in '87. The Breakfast Club would have come too early, and we would probably have been treated to another gawky, discomforting performance, rather than the pitch-perfect douchery that Nelson offered.
