"They were five total strangers, with nothing in common, meeting for the first time. A brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse. Before the day was over, they broke the rules. Bared their souls and touched each other in a way they never dreamed possible."

"Five strangers with nothing in common, except each other."

"Emilio Estevez — Andrew "Andy" Clark"

"Anthony Michael Hall — Brian Ralph Johnson"

"Judd Nelson — John Bender"

"[first lines] Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? And you see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed."

"John Kapelos — Carl, the Janitor"

"Paul Gleason — Vice Principal Richard Vernon"

"Molly Ringwald — Claire Standish"