Number 13 was the one we could not stop talking about beforehand, and you can hear it the second we get her on the line. This is the episode where we welcomed our very first celebrity guest, 80s movie icon Diane Franklin, and spent the better part of an hour talking movies, memories, and what it was actually like to be one of the faces of the decade. It aired September 29, 2016, and it is still one of our favorites we ever recorded.
If you grew up renting VHS tapes, you know her face even if the name takes a second: Karen in The Last American Virgin, Monique Junet in Better Off Dead, Patricia in Amityville II: The Possession, and Princess Joanna in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. She was gracious, funny, and a lot more thoughtful about the work than either of us expected, and she stuck around long enough to give Jason the French accent on the way out.
What you’ll hear in this episode
- How a chemistry exam at NYU accidentally launched her career, and the line she told herself before racing to the audition for The Last American Virgin. [08:06]
- The real story behind that gut-punch ending of Virgin, why she begged to change it, and how she made peace with it once she understood it was a European ending and not an American one. [10:00]
- Playing Monique opposite John Cusack in Better Off Dead, the on-set laughing fits that ruined take after take, and why it is the film she treasures most out of all her 80s cult classics. [23:34]
- How teen girls were only just starting to get leads back then, the Molly Ringwald and John Hughes shift, and where she fit into it. [24:32]
- The huge role she lost, screen-tested for in Czechoslovakia, and why losing it turned out to be the luckiest break of her whole career. [32:31]
- The dryer she bought her mom with her first real acting money, and the very European reaction she got from her thrifty dad. [20:00]
- How Scott Schwartz talked her into her first fan convention and kicked off a whole second act. [39:05]
Right out of the gate the two of us are riffing about our own glitches from the week before, which is where this one landed:
“Spend too much time in the same room with Bob, and you end up getting defective.”
Jason, [02:00]
Once Diane joined, the conversation kept turning back to the same idea, that an actor never gets to decide how people will remember them, and that being remembered at all is the whole gift:
“I really kind of just let that up to the audience and just being remembered is the gift.”
Diane Franklin, [06:01]
The dryer story is the one that stuck with us. She saved up her first real money and bought her mom a clothes dryer so she would not have to hang the wash on the line anymore, and then her dad announced it cost too much electricity to actually run. It is a small thing, but it tells you everything about where she came from, and it is exactly the kind of warm, real story that makes this a coming-of-age chapter worth sitting with alongside the best 80s teen movies.
About Diane Franklin
Diane Franklin was born February 11, 1962, and started acting as a kid before breaking through as Karen in the 1982 teen drama The Last American Virgin. That same year she played Patricia Montelli in the horror film Amityville II: The Possession. In 1985 she took the role she is most identified with, French exchange student Monique Junet in the Savage Steve Holland comedy Better Off Dead, opposite John Cusack, a movie that flopped in theaters and then became one of the most beloved 80s comedies on video. She rounded out the decade as Princess Joanna in the 1989 hit Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Years later she wrote a memoir about the whole ride, Diane Franklin: The Excellent Adventures of the Last American, French Exchange Babe of the 80s, and she is a regular on the nostalgia convention circuit, a world she got pulled into by our own future guest Scott Schwartz.
Original 2016 show notes
Karen, Karen, Karen…
The one the only 80s Movie Icon Diane Franklin join Bobby and Jason on this weeks podcast. They’re so excited and you can hear they can’t hide it.
Star of such top 80s movies as “The Last American Virgin”, “Better Off Dead”, and “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”. She shares memories and experiences that ANYONE who grew up in the 80s can appreciate.
And to think it was all because a Chemistry exam!
What’s the real scoop behind that controversial ending of “Virgin” and what does she think of it?
The awesomeness of timing when it comes to love and your career.
Why a dryer made the perfect gift. How talent runs in the family. What do the women say when they recognize her.
Bobby puts on his “Gossip Guys” hat and asks the important questions about romance on the set.
As well as Monique, Monique, Monique…the guys beg for more “Better Off Dead” Monique!
Not content with being a successful actress, she has added author to her list of credits. Check out “Diane Franklin: The Excellent Adventures of the Last American, French Exchange Babe of the 80s” on Amazon.
With the 80s revival in full swing Diane is one busy gal be sure to check her out for all of the latest on Twitter.
Follow her and let her know you heard her on the podcast!
The boys definitely need a cigarette and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s after their Franklin experience and they hope you enjoyed it as much as they did!
Enjoy!
Bobby and Jasons AWESOME 80s Podcast!
FAQ
What is Episode 13 of the Awesome 80s Podcast about?
It is a full interview with 80s movie icon Diane Franklin, our first celebrity guest, covering her breakout films, how she got started, romance on set, and what she has been up to since the 80s.
Who is Diane Franklin?
She is the actress who played Karen in The Last American Virgin, Monique in Better Off Dead, Patricia in Amityville II: The Possession, and Princess Joanna in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
When did this episode air?
It was released September 29, 2016, as part of Season 1.
What movies is Diane Franklin best known for?
Better Off Dead and The Last American Virgin are the two that fans bring up most, with Amityville II and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure close behind.
Where can I listen?
Play it right here on the episode page, or find Bobby and Jason’s Awesome 80s Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music.
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