Actor Jon Cryer has had many roles, but there’s one character he hangs on to.
Speaking with People, the “Two and a Half Men” star talked about how he appreciates still being recognized for his role as Duckie in the 1986 film “Pretty in Pink.”
“Duckie was very aspirational for me, because he was the guy I wish I was,” Cryer told the publication.
Cryer said he was a “theater dork” in his youth and he wished he had more confidence at the time.
“I was actually decently good at this being on stage thing,’” he said. “But I never had the confidence I think that Duckie had, and I wish I did, because he really lived his life out loud in a way I could only aspire to.”
Looking back on his teenage years, Cryer said he “felt like an outsider.”
“I think that really is a universal experience for most people,” he said. “I don’t think most people go through high school thinking, ‘I was the sh*t. Everybody really dug me in high school.’ But Duckie was…a bit of a conglomeration of several of my friends growing up. I had a friend named Artie who had this ridiculous pompadour. I stole some of the sayings of my friend David, who would go, ‘Do I offend?’ And so he was a great way to represent for my peer group.”
Cryer said it means a lot when people come up to him and talk about Duckie.
“That’s amazing to feel like it resonated in that way for people,” he said. “You try to make a story that is just honest, and when that honesty really touches people, you feel like you did your job.”