Trivia / Sixteen Candles

• Actor-Inspired Element: Molly Ringwald got to decorate Samantha's bedroom with items from her own dwelling.
• Breakthrough Hit: For John Hughes.
• Completely Different Title:
  • The German title of the film, Das darf man nur als Erwachsener, translates to One may do that only as an adult.
  • The Italian title is Un Compleanno Da Ricordare, which translates to A Birthday To Remember.
• Corpsing: During the scene at the dinner table, many of the younger cast members can be seen trying to hold back laughter or smiles. This was due to the fact that while filming, Gedde Watanabe was doing things off-camera while reading his lines. According to Molly Ringwald, one of the things he did was stick grapes up his nostrils.
• Creator Backlash: Molly Ringwald herself discussed this in a 2018 article for the New Yorker, where she talks about the movie's Values Dissonance aspects. She specifically cites the scenes with Jake and Ted trading Caroline for Samantha's underwear, Ted taking photos of the unconscious Caroline, and Ted and Caroline waking up after having drunk sex. She also discusses a conversation she had with Caroline's actress Haviland Morris, who initially didn't see any issues with the movie, but later emailed Molly and said that she thought about it and realized that she had issues with Jake's comments about violating Caroline, and Ted and Caroline's reckless behavior.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: John Hughes cast Molly Ringwald after seeing her headshot. Inspired by her appearance, he put it up over his desk and wrote the film just over a weekend, with her specifically in mind for the lead role. He cast Anthony Michael Hall having worked with him on National Lampoon's Vacation.
• The Danza: Blanche Baker as Ginny Baker, in a rare surname example.
• Dawson Casting: Averted with Sam and Ted; Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall were fifteen when the film was made, sixteen when it was released. Played straight with other characters, and lampshaded with Jake's girlfriend, Caroline (played by 25-year-old Haviland Morris) who, Sam remarks "had to flunk about nine grades." Gedde Watanabe, who played Long Duk Dong, was 29 at the time.
• Deleted Scene: According to Gedde Watanabe, there was a deleted scene where Long Duk Dong sings at the dance.
• Enforced Method Acting: In the scene where Long Duk Dong is drunk, Gedde Watanabe was supposed to laugh but was having some trouble. He was very ticklish, and so John Hughes actually tickled his bare feet to get him to laugh hysterically.
• Fake Nationality: Long Duk Dong is a Japanese foreign exchange student, his character's actor Gedde Watanabe is American and was born in Ogden, Utah.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: There are TWO versions of the film, the original theatrical version and the version that airs on TV and was released onto VHS during the 80s and 90s, which purged nearly all of the pop songs from the film and replaces it with generic muzak. The reason was that most of the songs for the film were secured only for the theatrical release of the film and not TV/home video release. The original soundtrack has since been restored for DVD and later TV prints since the early 00s, leaving the VHS version out in the cold until Arrow Video included both soundtracks on their 2020 Blu-ray.
  • There was an HBO version of the film in the 1980s that had all of the pop songs, however, trimmed two scenes featuring Long Duk Dong. The first scene that was trimmed was Long screaming "Banzai!" before jumping onto Jake from a tree (it goes from Jake's reaction looking up to see Long, who says, "Oh, sexy girlfriend!" to just showing Long jumping out of the tree). The second one occurs after the family finds Long outside in the yard (after being asked what happened to the car, and Long explains he crashed it into a big lake, Granny's line "why you little scuzbag" and the kick she delivers to him is trimmed out).
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Molly Ringwald's real-life sister, Beth Ringwald, appears in the film as Patty Baker.
  • John and Joan Cusack appear together. This was the only time they played siblings.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle:
  • Haviland Morris is actually a natural redhead. John Hughes only wanted one redhead in the movie, therefore she had to wear a wig.
• The Red Stapler:
  • The movie's costume director begged Molly Ringwald not to wear the hat she wears in the beginning of the movie. Ringwald insisted. After the movie was released, teenage girls started wearing their hats tilted back like this.
  • The houses in the film have become a tourist attraction.
• Romance on the Set: Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall dated briefly between this film and The Breakfast Club.
• Star-Making Role: For Molly Ringwald.
• Stillborn Franchise: As of 2003, USA Network was developing a sequel to the film. As of 2005, Molly Ringwald was producing, saying she had been approached repeatedly but had turned down all previous offers. "I couldn't see how it would work. Now, it seems right." By 2008, Ringwald was campaigning for the sequel, but said she was uncomfortable doing the film without the involvement of John Hughes who, at that point, was not interested. Hughes died the next year killing all chances of sequels.
• Throw It In!: According to Gedde Watanabe, the gong sound effect wasn't included in the script:
  "I think the gong was something they added. Somebody must've had a few beers."
• Wag the Director:
  • A positive example. Carlin Glynn, who plays Brenda, confronted John Hughes about the fact that the script didn't call for her to apologize for forgetting her daughter's birthday, despite the fact that her character was described as a good and attentive mother. Hughes agreed and added the scene where Brenda tearfully apologizes to Sam.
  • In the initial script, Sam's father ends his heart-to-heart with his daughter by flat out asking what happened to her underwear (she gave it to Farmer Ted.) Molly Ringwald's mother pointed out that it was weird for a girl's father to ask that. John Hughes agreed that it was creepy and changed the line.
• What Could Have Been: Jim Carrey auditioned for Ted, Ally Sheedy, Robin Wright and Laura Dern auditioned for Sam, and Viggo Mortensen was in the running for Jake.
• Word of God: John Hughes said in 1999 that several of his "Shermer" movies, including Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, are all a part of the same universe. According to Hughes, Ferris Bueller and Samantha knew each other.

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