‘Breakfast Club’ Actor Anthony Michael Hall Looks Unrecognizable From His Child Star Days

Anthony Michael Hall is sharing some wisdom from his time in Hollywood.

Earlier this month, the former “Brat Pack” member, 58, attended a press event for the new FOX celebrity competition show Nation’s Dumbest, in which he’s a contestant. The National Lampoon’s Vacation star looked nearly unrecognizable compared to his child-star days in the 1980s, sporting white hair and a suit at the event.

Hall — who famously starred in several hit John Hughes films in the ’80s as a teenager: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Weird Science — shared his advice for having a long career in the film and TV business, per a Fox News Digital article published on Sunday, July 19.

“Having a thick skin, and just being game and just wanting to work with the best people you can. Just being persistent and tenacious,” he said.

“And thank God I was born with a hard head. But you have to have a thick skin. You have to really want and love what you do. So I think that’s it.”

As for what he’s learned along the way, the Saturday Night Live alum said, “Stay humble, stay focused, keep your eyes on the road, and just keep moving ahead somehow.”

“There’s no guarantees of anything in this business, and it’s a tough business, but it’s really great business, so I’m very fortunate,” he added.

According to a synopsis of Nation’s Dumbest, the series, “Follows celebrities competing in school-themed challenges where the goal is to avoid last place. Each week the smartest graduates until a final exam determines who earns the unwanted title of Nation’s Dumbest.”

“[I] feel very blessed. This is my 51st year doing this, and this was really a unique thing, because it was something I never expected. It really took me by surprise, and it was really lot of fun,” the Reacher actor said of the project. “So, it was about learning that lesson, too. Staying open to new opportunities, just being cool with it and having fun. So, we really had a great time, all of us. It was nice.”

Interestingly, the Edward Scissorhands actor drew some comparisons between Nation’s Dumbest and the beloved 1985 film The Breakfast Club.

“Do you know what, there was some parallels for sure. We all got thrown together. We’re all stuck, we couldn’t really go anywhere. And honestly, we all really got along,” Hall shared. “It was a real nice organic surprise that I had a great time with all these people. It was coming into a year where I wasn’t sure where the next job was gonna come, like we often feel in this industry. And I got the call, and I was just really excited by it.”