In 1987, Paul Newman was asked for his thoughts on a filmmaker who defined the decade. He’d never heard of them

In 1987, actor Paul Newman was asked about filmmaker John Hughes, whose teen-focused films had become a defining force in popular cinema. Newman said he had never heard of Hughes or his film *Pretty in Pink*, then declined to continue the discussion, saying he had trouble with names.

By then, Hughes had written or directed several prominent youth-oriented films, including *Sixteen Candles*, *The Breakfast Club*, *Weird Science* and *Ferris Bueller’s Day Off*. He had also recently finished filming *Planes, Trains and Automobiles*. The article presents Newman’s unfamiliarity as a contrast between his long career and Hughes’s growing influence, while noting Newman was in his early sixties and uninterested in the teen-film trend.