This 'Sixteen Candles' Heartthrob Quit Hollywood to Make Furniture – Now His Grown-Up Daughter Looks 'Just Like' Her Dad

More than 30 years after a Hollywood heartthrob exchanged acting for a private life far from the industry, the next generation of his family has stepped in front of the camera. Readers can see photos of the star's lookalike daughter at the end of the article.

For a generation that grew up watching "Sixteen Candles," one young actor became closely associated with the teenage romance at the center of the 1984 movie.

As Jake Ryan, the popular high school senior who catches Samantha Baker's attention, he emerged from the John Hughes film as an '80s heartthrob, but the fame that followed did not lead to a decades-long Hollywood career.

His co-stars remembered another side of him away from the camera. Anthony Michael Hall, who played the Geek in "Sixteen Candles," looked back on their time together and recalled how his older castmate treated him during production:

"He was a great guy. It was fun. On that set, he was like a big brother to me. He was real cool, so we hung out a lot, even though I was a little kid."

While "Sixteen Candles" became the role most closely linked to the actor, he did not immediately abandon the profession that had made him recognizable.

He appeared in about eight more movies afterward, including "Vision Quest," "Mermaids," and "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken," but by the early 1990s, his screen career had come to an end.

There would be no steady stream of comeback interviews explaining the decision in the decades that followed. He remained largely outside the public eye after retiring, and his wife later explained in 2014 that he valued his privacy.

By that point, the former actor had built a life far removed from the Hollywood pinup image that followed "Sixteen Candles." His relationship with Valerie C. Robinson had begun years earlier when they were both working as models in New York City, and they married in 1987.

Their son, Zane Schoeffling, was born in 1988, followed by their daughter, Scarlett Schoeffling, in 1991. Following "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken," the couple moved away from Hollywood and settled in his hometown of Newfoundland, Pennsylvania.

The change was not simply a move to another part of the country. His professional life changed with it. Instead of continuing to pursue movie roles, the former heartthrob turned to woodworking, sharing:

"The thing about furniture that's much better than acting is that it's just me. There's no director, no script — the concept is me, unless a client wants something. In film work you do the best you can under the given circumstances, but you don't have control. At least, I don't."

He and Valerie established a woodworking design business, with his work centered on handcrafted furniture. Few details about the operation have been made public, consistent with the privacy he maintained after leaving acting.

What had once been a career conducted on movie sets and in front of audiences was replaced by a craft practiced largely away from public view. The "Sixteen Candles" actor who made that unusual transition was none other than Michael Schoeffling.

Michael has now spent more than three decades outside Hollywood, despite the lasting recognition attached to Jake Ryan. His daughter, however, has taken a different approach to life in front of the camera.

Scarlett followed a path with connections to both of her parents' earlier careers. She went into modeling and acting, the same two fields Michael had pursued before leaving the entertainment industry. Her mother, Valerie, had also worked as a model and actress.

Now based in Brooklyn, Scarlett has been represented by New York Models and LA Models. Her modeling work has included Tommy Bahama, while she also appeared in Estée Lauder's 2013 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign.

The social media reactions also showed how his decision to stay private coexisted with the continued affection some "Sixteen Candles" viewers have for Jake Ryan.

Acting has become another part of her résumé. Her screen credits include a role in the 2020 film "Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story," as well as a guest appearance on the television drama "Billions."

Yet as Scarlett developed a career of her own, her appearance also brought renewed attention to her famous father. Some people who remembered Michael as Jake Ryan began pointing out how strongly they believed his daughter resembled him.

One person emphasized the similarity, commenting, "Those genes are STRONG. Literally copy paste! 😍" Another shared, "You look just like your Dad [sic]. Absolutely beautiful!! ❤️"

For others, seeing Scarlett immediately brought back memories of the character who made Michael a teenage heartthrob. One person typed, "Jake Ryan. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ you [sic] look like him."

Another commenter went beyond the resemblance between father and daughter and described the features they associated with Michael, writing, "I see the resemblance. He is universally handsome. Like a beefier Richard Gere -- taller, squarer jawline, deeper voice."

The social media reactions also showed how his decision to stay private coexisted with the continued affection some "Sixteen Candles" viewers have for Jake Ryan.

One person respected Michael's preference for privacy while expressing affection for Scarlett's updates, adding that her father remained the "ideal" Jake Ryan to many fans and praising the furniture he now makes in northeastern Pennsylvania.

While those memories have kept his most famous character in the conversation, Michael himself has remained out of the spotlight.

Scarlett's career, however, has unfolded differently. More than three decades after her father stepped away from the camera, she has worked on screen and in modeling while attracting attention for the family resemblance that viewers continue to notice. Photos of Michael's grown-up daughter can be found below.

Michael Schoeffling

Scarlett Schoeffling