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It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Jon Cryer for the role of Duckie. His eccentric demeanor makes him perfect for the role. Yet, according to the star of Pretty in Pink, Molly Ringwald, she didn’t think the actor was right for the part. Instead, she wanted Robert Downey Jr. for the role of Andie’s best friend. Keep reading to find out why.

Jon Cryer And Molly Ringwald In 'Pretty In Pink'
Jon Cryer, Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy on set of the film ‘Pretty In Pink’, 1986 | Paramount/Getty Images

Duckie and Andie were supposed to end up together in ‘Pretty In Pink’

In the 1986 film, Andie ends up with her high school crush, Blane, played by Andrew McCarthy. But initially, the film intended to have Duckie and Andie as end-game. Yet unfortunately, the test audience for Pretty In Pink began booing the ending where Duckie finally ended up with his dream girl.

In the biography on John Hughes films titled You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried, the book details how angry fans were at this ending:

“When Andie and Duckie’s dance flickered on-screen, the kids in the audience reacted quite passionately: They started loudly booing,” the book reveals. “The filmmakers sat there stunned and saddened, as the truth sank in. ‘It was clear,’ says Howard Deutch, ‘That they didn’t want her to be with that guy.”

And according to the book, 60% of test audience members wanted Andie to end up with Andrew McCarthy’s character.

“Personally,” says the film’s producer, Schuler Donner, “I was horrified. I thought, ‘Oh, no, that’s not right!’ But then we thought about it and decided, well, you know what? We’re making a movie for them.’ It was then decided that the ending would be reshot.”

Molly Ringwald didn’t want to end up with Jon Cryer’s character in ‘Pretty in Pink’

It turns out the test audience members weren’t the only ones who didn’t ship Duckie and Andie. According to Ringwald, she also didn’t think their characters had any chemistry with one another. “It was just nothing,” Ringwald confessed. And according to the book, she believed that Duckie “should have been played by somebody like Robert Downey Jr. He was different, and he was quirky, but it was completely imaginable that we would end up together,” she said.

In the 2006 “Everything’s Duckie” edition of the movie, Cryer opens up about Ringwald’s comments. “Molly dropped the bomb that she would have been fine with the original ending if Robert Downey Jr. had played Duckie,” he says. “But since it was me, she just couldn’t see it. It was like, wow, so I’m that unattractive? Thanks, Mol!”

Molly Ringwald thinks that Duckie’s character is gay

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Another essential reason why Ringwald doesn’t believe that her character should have ended up with Duckie is that she thinks he is gay.

“If they remade the movie now,” she says, “He would be the gay friend who comes out in the end. He wouldn’t be winking at a blonde. He would be winking at a cute guy… I feel bad saying that I really fought for Robert Downey Jr.,” she admits. “Because it seems like I don’t appreciate Jon’s performance, which I totally do- it just really did affect the movie.”

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