St. Elmo’s Fire Cast: Then & Now

So what are the stars of St. Elmo’s Fire up to now, 35 years after the film was released on June 28, 1985? 

One of the Brat Pack’s biggest stars, Lowe starred in St. Elmo’s Fire, The Outsiders, and About Last Night, which also starred Demi Moore, going on to star in hit comedies Wayne’s World, Austin Powers and Tommy Boy in the ’90s. 

In 1999, Lowe starred on The West Wing, one of TV’s most critically acclaimed series, and later starred on ABC’s Brothers & Sisters before joining the cast of NBC’s beloved sitcom Parks & Recreation. He then starred on Code Black and currently stars on Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star and recently starred in a Netflix Christmas movie, Holiday in the Wild, opposite Kristin Davis. 

Lowe has been married to makeup artist Sheryl Berkoff since 1991 after being set up on a blind date in 1983, and have  two sons together, Matthew, 27, and John, 25. In 2017, Lowe and his two sons starred in The Lowe Files together, a paranormal reality series. 

The 56-year-old has written two best-selling books, his 2011 memoir Stories I Only Tell My Friends, and 2014’s Love Life. In his memoir, Lowe opened up about his struggles with addiction, going to rehab in 1990 following a sex tape scandal in 1988.

“It’s one of the reasons I got sober. I woke up one day and was like, ‘what am I doing with my life?,'” Lowe later said. In May 2020, Lowe celebrated 30 years of sobriety. 

Following her turn as party girl Jules, Moore would go on to become the highest paid actress in Hollywood by 1995 after the success of Ghost, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and hit films like A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal and Disclosure. And in 1996, she earned a then record-breaking $12.5 million payday for Striptease and then made headlines in 1997 for shaving her head for G.I. Jane.

But Moore took a break from Hollywood to focus on raising her daughters, Rumer, Scout and Tallulah, moving to Hailey, Idaho with then-husband Bruce Willis, whom she married in 1987, after ending her engagement to Emilio Estevez. But Moore and Willis, one of Hollywood’s biggest couples, separated in 1998, going on to finalize their divorce in 2000. 

Moore made her return to Hollywood as the villain in 2003’s Charlie Angels: Full Throttle, and garnered media attention for her romance with Ashton Kutcher, who was 15 years her junior. The pair went on to wed in 2005 and were married for six years before splitting, with Moore later revealing the highs and lows of the relationship, including their heartbreaking miscarriage and his alleged infidelity in her best-selling memoir, Inside Out. 

In the 2019 book, Moore also opened up about her traumatic childhood, the sexual assault she suffered, her struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse, her 2012 relapse and repairing her relationship with her children. 

Moore, 57, is still close with her ex-husband Willis, with the former couple quarantining together with their children amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

One of the Brat Pack’s biggest stars and a member of a prominent Hollywood family (his father is Martin Sheen and his brother is Charlie Sheen), Estevez starred in hits such as The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders and Young Guns, before going on to star in The Mighty Ducks films, with went on to become one of Disney’s most successful franchises. And he’s set to reprise his beloved role of Gordon Bombay in Disney+’s upcoming Mighty Ducks TV series.

Estevez’s interest turned to writing and directing, helming films such as Bobby, The Way and The Public. He’s also directed episodes of CSI, Cold Case and NUmb3rs, among other series.

After a brief engagement to Demi Moore, Estevez married Paula Abdul in 1992, with the Hollywood couple divorcing after two years of marriage. Estevez was previously married to model Carey Salley, welcoming two children together, son Taylor and daughter Paloma, before their 1986 split. In 2019, the 58-year-old became a grandfather for the first time. 

The same year she played ambitious architect Leslie, Sheedy starred opposite Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club as Allison, the “basket case.”

Sheedy battled an addiction to sleeping pills, entering a rehab facility in 1988, and used her own past experiences to play a drug-addicted art dealer in 1998, with the star earning praise for her turn in the indie film High Art, going on to win the Independent Spirit Award. In 1999, she became the first female to take on the lead role in the off-Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. 

Sheedy, 58, would go on to make guest appearances in TV series such as The Dead Zone, Kyle XY and Psych.

Following high profile romances with Woody Harrelson and Eric Stoltz, Sheedy married actor David Lansbury, the nephew of actress Angela Lansbury, in 1992, with the couple welcoming their first child in 1998. In 2008, Sheedy and Lansbury divorced. 

While McCarthy would go on to become one of the 80s’ biggest heartthrobs thanks to Pretty in Pink, Weekend at Bernie’s and Less Than Zero, he later revealed he was battling substance abuse, and after going through a detox program, McCarthy has been sober since 1992. 

In recent years, McCarthy has turned his attention to behind-the-scenes work, though he recently appeared on 13 Reasons Why, earning praise as a director on TV series such as Orange Is the New Black, The Blacklist, Good Girls, Gossip Girl and The Sinner. In Addition to his acting and directing work, the 57-year-old is also a travel writer, serving as an editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler and penning two books. 

He married his college sweetheart in Carol Schneider in 1999 after almost 20 years of dating, but the pair split in 2005 after welcoming their son, Sam McCarthy, who now stars on Netflix’s hit series Dead to Me. 

McCarthy went on to wed Dolores Rice in 2011, with the couple having two children together, a daughter named Willow and a son named Rowan.

Her only turn in a Brat Pack film, Winningham played the sweet-natured and caring Wendy before starring opposite Tom Hanks in Turner & Hooch and earning an Oscar nomination for her turn in 1995’s Georgia. 

Winningham has been nominated for seven Emmys, and has starred in multiple seasons of American Horror Story, Showtime’s The Affair and Hatfields & McCoys. Most recently, she starred on HBO’s acclaimed drama The Outsiders.

After divorcing her second husband, William Mapel, in 1996 after 15 years of marriage and five children, Winningham, 61, married Jason Trucco in 2008. The couple divorced in 2012. 

Winningham has also released four studio albums, with her latest, What’s Left Behind, being released in 2014. 

Thanks to his roles in St. Elmo’s Fire, The Breakfast Club, Billionaires Boys Club and New Jack City, Nelson was one of the most in-demand actors of his generation. 

After his hit series Suddenly Susan ended in 1999 after a three-year run, the 60-year-old went on to make appearances on hit shows like CSI, Psych and Two and a Half Men, and Nelson most recently appeared on Empire. He’s also provided the voice of Rodimus Prime in several animated Transformers series.

In 1994, Nelson was briefly engaged to Beverly Hills, 90210 star Shannen Doherty. 

A few years after her supporting role in St. Elmo’s Fire as the doctor Kirby was trying to woo, MacDowell’s breakout performance came in 1989 when she starred in Sex, Lies, and Videotape, earning an Independent Spirit Award. 

MacDowell went on to star in hit films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day, and Michael. Most recently, she starred in Ready or Not and Magic Mike XXL.

After starring on Jane by Design in 2012, MacDowell fronted Hallmark Channel’s hit series Cedar Cove.

Married to Paul Qualley for 13 years, the couple welcomed three children together, including Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood star Margaret Qualley, before divorcing in 1999. The 62-year-old then married Rhett Hartzog in 2001, with the pair divorcing three years later.