Anthony Michael Hall Is Back in the Zone

As USA Network's The Dead Zone returns for a new season (premiering Sunday at 10 pm/ET), series star and former Brat Packer Anthony Michael Hall ponders what's in his future.

TV Guide: You filmed the past two seasons of Dead Zone in Vancouver a year ago. Any hints about what's in store for your character, Johnny, this season?
Anthony Michael Hall: He's just finished tracking down Sean Patrick Flanery [who plays corrupt congressman Greg Stillson] for four years.... I can't remember!

TV Guide: Why don't you try channeling Johnny's psychic abilities?
Hall: [Laughs] I don't want to give it away, but the focus has to do with Rachel, the dead sister of Sarah Wynter's character, Rebecca. She's tracking down Stillson, until she finds out that he's responsible for Rachel's murder. There's also an agent who works for Stillson [who is] tracking me down.

TV Guide: Was it tough taping two seasons back-to-back?
Hall: I looked at it like a marathon. I was building my own production company while I was doing a 60-minute show every seven days. The directors shift every week. The guest stars change every week. People either agree to get along, or they don't. When they don't, it gets reduced to high school.

TV Guide: Speaking of high school, your breakout film role was in Sixteen Candles and then you starred in The Breakfast Club. Ever watch when they're on TV?
Hall: Absolutely! For a normal person, the equivalent would be a yearbook that sits on a shelf in your mom's house. This is a yearbook that came to life.

TV Guide: Do you still talk to members of the Brat Pack?
Hall: Definitely. Judd [Nelson] and I reconnected. I just sent him my script for this movie I'm directing called Life After Death in Las Vegas there's a bunch of people chasing an inheritance that they're all screwed out of by Wayne Newton.

TV Guide: You also had a Breakfast Club reunion with Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy at the MTV Movie Awards last year, right?
Hall: It was like This Is Your Life. This is bizarre. We're in the front row, and Molly is on my left, Ally's on my right. They're both holding my hand because they're nervous and excited. Molly is like, "I want to talk first!" Ally goes, "No, I want to say something and scratch my hair like in the movie with the dandruff." Then Molly goes, "I just had a baby. I'm afraid my t--s are going to fall out." I go, "That's exactly what you have to say!" She did, and they cut it out. It was so awesome, and they cut it out. There was white light and 2,000 people. It was surreal.

TV Guide: Speaking of surreal, you play a psychic in The Dead Zone. Ever been to see one yourself?
Hall: I met with John Edward a couple of years back. We became friends. I met with Char Margolis, and that was amazing. She knew too many people's names in my life! She spoke to some of the transitions that I'm making.

TV Guide: Like what?
Hall: Just going out on my own and seeking other opportunities outside of the entertainment business. She was right about some of that. Of course, I was always interested in all of that psychic stuff. So I guess my propensity for it contributed to my readiness to play that part. That's something John Edward said, too.

TV Guide: Are you sad to say goodbye to Johnny?
Hall: It's been interesting to grow into the character. It's what I refer to as Young Leading Man School. I wanted to show leadership on the set, be an active producer. It was an amazing challenge. [Since sitting down for this interview, Hall revealed in a TVGuide.com podcast that this may not necessarily be Dead Zone's final season, that talks are ongoing and he's open to another round.]

TV Guide: So, at 38, do you feel like you've finally ditched your Sixteen Candles Farmer Ted character and escaped Jake Ryan's shadow?
Hall: [Laughs] Everybody wants to know about Jake! You know what's funny? Twenty years later, I have girls come up to me like, "Oh, my God! Do you know how to get a hold of Michael Schoeffling?" When we did Sixteen Candles, he taught me how to put pomade in my hair. He had that thing down, right? I heard he married a model and they moved to Pennsylvania and he makes furniture. I love the guy.