Patrick Dempsey

I see, uh, uh- Neil McDonough ...

Patrick Dempsey.

I see Ricky, um, Schroder.

Wow.

Can't Buy Me Love was released in 1987, and it became one of the biggest and most beloved teen movies of its generation.

It starred a then unknown Patrick Dempsey as Ronald Miller, a high school outsider who offers the most popular girl in school, Cindy Mancini, $1,000 to pretend to be his girlfriend, and the plan works.

Ronald becomes popular almost overnight, but as his social status rises, he begins to lose sight of his real friends and himself.

Nearly four decades later, people are still watching this movie, quoting its most memorable lines, recreating the African anteater ritual, and introducing it to their children.

It captures something timeless about high school, the desire to belong, the pressure to be popular, and the realization that the people we overlook are often far more interesting than we assume.

I thought it would be fun to interview the man who wrote it and hear how the movie was actually made.

Michael Swerdlick shares the unlikely story behind Can't Buy Me Love, how the screenplay he wrote on a typewriter became a hit, how Patrick Dempsey was cast as the last-minute star, what it was like working with Amanda Peterson, and how Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, and a very small budget all became part of the film's history.

It's a fascinating look behind the scenes of a movie that w-was never expected to become a classic, but somehow became part of an entire generation's childhood.

Yep, 100%.

You were the mature, even though you had, you know, even though Patrick Dempsey was way older than you in the film, you were the voice of, you were like, listen to me.

Yeah.

You were like, you know, so- I grew up

Christopher Moltisanti

... uh, Patrick Dempsey, not in the movie, but Patrick Dempsey, great friends with, uh, Michael Imperioli, uh, with Damn It Moorey! on the red carpet.

You're, you're on the red carpet supporting your friend Michael Imperioli.

Yeah.

Patrick Dempsey.

Yes.

Do you, even when it's not your movie, do you like being on a red carpet?

I was trying to just slip in quietly, and then he was helping me get in.