IN the mid 80s she was part of a formidable group of emerging talent that was, perhaps unfairly, dubbed The Brat Pack. Though Charli XCX has very much rebranded the term Brat into a positive this year, it had adverse repercussions for actress Ally Sheedy four decades ago as she struggled to break free from the cloak it put around her and peers like Demi Moore , Robert Downey Jr and Rob Lowe, among others. The moniker, a play on the famous Rat Pack nickname given to 50s and 60s crooners like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole - came to be after a bunch of young up and comers appeared alongside one another in multiple coming of age movies like St Elmo's Fire and The Breakfast Club.
At the height of those films' success, Ally didn't feel particularly concerned, and why would she, as one of the industry's hottest new stars. She told Vanity Fair in 2022: "Movies and working in film and TV and all that— it was this all-consuming love affair in my 20s. This is what I want to do.
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"So I understand myself in my 20s, and I also understand how dangerous it can be to simply decide this is my path—period, end of story, nothing else matters. But that’s in your 20s. You’re passionate.
” READ MORE ON THE 80S However, that attitude began to change as she became increasingly pigeon-holed and was urged to change her style in order to compete for more prominent roles. The shallow nature of Hollywood irked her and she had no desire to transform herself into a stereotypical 'pretty girl' t.