‘I was paid $20k for The Breakfast Club but the part launched my movie career’

Canadian actor John Kapelos was paid just $20,000 to star in the hit 1985 film The Breakfast Club. But he still receives a steady stream of income from it. Kapelos, who played janitor Carl Reed, also makes money every year from American Pie II – even though his role was cut from the movie’s final edit. Now 63, he rents a condominium in Hollywood with girlfriend, Heidi, 45, and says his biggest financial regret was not investing in Apple when he had an opportunity to do so in the 1980s.

What did your parents teach you about money?

To value it. Never a day went by that my father didn’t talk about the importance of a dollar. My parents ran a clothing store in Ontario, Canada, and we had a comfortable middle class existence. My mother was a bit of a spender, but my father was a frugal man and a saver.

What was the first paid work you ever did?

Cutting lawns for the equivalent of around €2.50 when I was nine years old. My dad refused to give me a weekly allowance – he said if I wanted to make some money, I would have to work for it. I gradually got regular customers and would make about €45 a month.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

The worst time in my life was when I was 20. I dropped out of university and ended up living in a friend’s apartment in Vancouver. I went there because it is on the other side of Canada to Ontario and I wanted to get as far away from my parents as possible.

I literally lived on baking mix Bisquick and fruit for about six months. I had no money and no one would employ me.

Eventually, I took a part-time job in a record store, earning less than €80 a week. Throughout that time, I was trying to find work as an actor. No one would hire me because I didn’t have any experience. So I started acting in student films for free – and that was the start of my career.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It has to be 1986, the year after The

Breakfast Club was released. I got paid a pretty modest sum for my role in The Breakfast Club itself – something like €2,700 a day and I only worked on it for seven days. It was not a huge amount, but it kicked off my acting career and I did a ton of movies after that.

Do you still get an income from The Breakfast Club?

Yes, I do, every year, but it’s not much. The biggest money surprise I have received was from American

Pie II. I spent eight days on set but they cut me out of the movie. They still sent me a cheque for nearly €10,000. My Screen Actors Guild contract stipulated I had to be paid regardless of whether or not I was in the movie. I still get a trickle of cheques from the movie as well.

What is the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

It was a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar that I paid around €7,000 for. I bought it in the 1990s.

What is your biggest money mistake?

Not investing in Apple in the 1980s. I had an option to invest via an investors group and I didn’t do it. My father was sceptical about the stock market so I was cautious too.

The best money decision you have made?

Buying stocks in the 1990s that have done well: the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Disney. They have more than tripled in value since then.

Do you save into a pension?

I do. I started in my early 30s. An accountant strong-armed me into it. He told me: ‘someday, you’re going to be old’, which like most people I never thought about when I was young. I am now 63 and really grateful to him.

Do you own any property?

No. I rent a condo in Hollywood, Los Angeles, with my partner Heidi and dog, Leila. It’s in a beautiful building that has its own pool and hot tub.

But I wish I had bought property here in the early 1990s.

If you were finance minister what would you do?

I would tax the rich so I could make sure that university education is free. Everyone should have equal access to university and money should not be a factor in the decision to go.