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Anthony Michael Hall\u2014yes, all three names, because anything less doesn\u2019t cover a career this prolific\u2014has been a fixture of the pop culture zeitgeist since he started acting at age seven, in a run that now spans 51 years and counting. From his John Hughes\u2013era icon status (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science,<\/em> all marking 40th anniversaries this year) to Saturday Night Live, Edward Scissorhands, The Dead Zone, Halloween Kills <\/em>and, most recently, an on-screen reunion with Tim Burton in Wednesday<\/em> Season 2 and a series-regular arc on the acclaimed Reacher,<\/em> Hall has built the kind of resume most actors only aspire to.<\/p>\n Now, he\u2019s doing something entirely new by joining Fox\u2019s celebrity competition series Nation\u2019s Dumbest,<\/em> where he\u2019s competing alongside Ice-T, Carmen Electra, Hilaria Baldwin, Jon Heder and more in a race to avoid being crowned the nation\u2019s dumbest. It\u2019s Hall\u2019s first foray into reality television, and the decision came down to the company. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the people. Plus, I thought it was a fun concept and a cool opportunity,\u201d he says. \u201cOnce I heard guys like Ice-T and Steve-O would be there, I thought: \u2018Go for it and go have some fun.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fun didn\u2019t mean unprepared. Hall treats a shoot like this the way he treats any physical role at this point in his career, which is to say seriously. \u201cWeeks before I go on camera, I start cutting out carbs and sugar. I increase my lemon-water intake. I train with lighter weights for my workouts. In addition, I bike, box and do a lot of stretching\u2014specifically myofascial-type stretching,\u201d he says. \u201cThis technique uses stretching and releasing of the body\u2019s connective tissue, or fascia, which increases the body\u2019s mobility and improves my flexibility overall.\u201d<\/p>\n That kind of discipline tracks with how Hall talks about his career more broadly. He doesn\u2019t see it as a series of calculated pivots, but as something he has simply kept showing up for. \u201cIt has always been organic,\u201d he says. \u201cI am very proud of the fact that, with God\u2019s grace, I\u2019ve had a 51-year career and I am still going strong. I started out as a young boy at the age of seven, and I\u2019ve been doing this for a long time.\u201d He points to two lines he keeps coming back to\u2014\u201cwhen the going gets tough, the tough get going\u201d and \u201cnecessity is the mother of invention\u201d\u2014as a fair summary of the mindset required. \u201cWith the type of career that I\u2019ve had, and the type of work that I do, nothing is guaranteed and everything must be earned and worked for. I remain truly grateful for my journey and for all of the work and projects I\u2019ve been able to contribute to over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of that journey circled back in an unexpected way this year, when Hall joined Wednesday for its second season, 35 years after starring opposite Tim Burton in Edward Scissorhands.<\/em> \u201cIt was a real blessing,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always had a great deal of respect and admiration for Tim Burton, both as a person and an artist. I also think that Tim is a modern-day Walt Disney.\u201d The reunion came with a group of coworkers he\u2019s quick to credit: \u201cThe fantastic crew in Dublin, Ireland, and all the actors\u2014including Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzm\u00e1n, Jenna Ortega and Steve Buscemi\u2014were all super cool and a real pleasure to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n Across a filmography that stretches in a lot of different directions, Hall says the role that stretched him most wasn\u2019t a film at all. \u201cThe<\/em> Dead Zone<\/em> was an incredible opportunity for me. I was also an executive producer on the show,\u201d he says of the USA Network series, which ran five seasons and 80 episodes. \u201cIt was a huge hit and was very well received by audiences, which was an enormously gratifying feeling. And as an actor, it challenged me and developed me in ways that I could not have anticipated. It was truly a great experience and one of the highlights of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s the Hughes films that fans bring up most, and Hall doesn\u2019t take that lightly. \u201cIt is a real gift to me. I genuinely appreciate how fans respond to the John Hughes films I made at the beginning of my career\u2014always have,\u201d he says. \u201cWorking closely with John Hughes, who was a true friend and mentor to me, changed the trajectory of my career, and I will forever be grateful to John, as well as director Harold Ramis and Matty Simmons, founder of National Lampoon<\/em> magazine, who also produced National Lampoon\u2019s Vacation<\/em>.\u201d He credits Isaac Newton for the line that sums it up: \u201cIf I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. These men were giants to me at the beginning of my career, who all saw something in me and helped to guide and foster me as a young boy growing up in the entertainment business. Forever grateful to them all.\u201d<\/p>\n Off-camera, the routine is simpler. \u201cPrayer. Reflection. Quiet time. Walks on the beach with my wife and son,\u201d Hall says of how he decompresses. And after five decades of being recognized everywhere from movie sets to sidewalks, he\u2019s stopped keeping score. \u201cI don\u2019t think about that. When people do recognize me for any aspect of my work, I am grateful and I am thankful. Overall, I am a forward-thinking person. I love the famous saying: \u2018Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift\u2014 that is why it\u2019s called the present.\u2019 So, I always endeavor to remain present, and grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n