Gwyneth Paltrow Freaks Out Over Jake from ‘Sixteen Candles’ Turning 65 This Year
The age of Michael Schoeffling, who portrayed the hottie Jake Ryan in the 1984 classic, is shocking many ‘Sixteen Candles’ fans, including Gwyneth Paltrow.
The 52-year-old actress joked that Schoeffling’s character’s approaching 65th birthday in 2025 serves as yet another reminder of how quickly time passes in a meme she posted on her Instagram Stories recently.
Photographer Bruce Weber initially found Schoeffling as a model and urged him to pursue acting. He was recruited for the Jake Ryan role by director John Hughes in 1983 as he was working on his first movie. Samantha, played by Molly Ringwald, has a major crush on Jake in ‘Sixteen Candles’. Jake is seeing Caroline, played by Haviland Morris, who is popular. Jake falls in love with Samantha by the end of the movie.
The film made $23 million at the box office, despite having a small $6 million budget. More significantly, it turned become a cherished cult classic. Anthony Michael Hall played “The Geek,” John Cusack played Bryce, and Gedde Watanabe played Long Duk Dong.
Image Courtesy: IMDb
When the picture was shot, Schoeffling was 23 years old, but he quickly left Hollywood. He quit the business in the early 1990s after taking on a few additional roles, opting instead to live a more sedate life in Pennsylvania, where he owns a woodworking shop. He has never spoken in public about his decision to give up acting in favour of his wife, Valerie C. Robinson, a former model and actor, and his two kids, Scarlett and Zane.
Schoeffling would rather avoid the spotlight, but Scarlett, his daughter, has chosen a different route. In addition to signing with New York Models and LA Models, she has developed a modelling career and experimented with acting. She had a guest appearance in ‘Billions’ and ‘Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story’ in 2020. She has also appeared in Tommy Bahama advertisements.
In keeping with his existence outside of Hollywood, Schoeffling is unlikely to make any public appearances to commemorate the ‘Sixteen Candles’ 40th anniversary this year.
–Farheen Ali
