Ben Carter
Debbie Pollack played the role of Marlene, the new-style sexy American girlfriend in the 1984 coming-of-age film Sixteen Candles. Pollack's character was the girlfriend of the foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong, played by Gedde Watanabe. Pollack made her screen debut in Sixteen Candles, and while she didn't have a lot of screen time, she played a memorable role. In fact, Pollack revealed that she still gets recognised for her role to this day. Although Pollack's exact age during filming is unknown, she mentioned that she was older than the character she portrayed.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the movie | Sixteen Candles |
| Year of release | 1984 |
| Debbie Pollack's character name | Marlene, aka Lumberjack |
| Description of the character | "new-style sexy American girlfriend" |
| Co-star | Gedde Watanabe |
| Gedde Watanabe's character name | Long Duk Dong |
| Description of Gedde Watanabe's character | Foreign exchange student |
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What You'll Learn
Debbie Pollack played Marlene, the new-style sexy American girlfriend
Debbie Pollack played Marlene, also known as Lumberjack, in the 1984 coming-of-age film Sixteen Candles. Pollack's character is the "new-style sexy American girlfriend" of Long Duk Dong, a foreign exchange student played by Gedde Watanabe. Pollack's character is an Amazon who takes an instant liking to Long Duk Dong.
Sixteen Candles was Pollack's screen debut. She had no prior expectations of the film or her role, as it was her first time acting in a film. She had, however, started acting at a very young age, taking dancing and singing classes at the age of four and later getting involved with the San Diego Junior Theatre. Pollack recalled that she had to audition for her role, and that the entire audition process involved a lot of improvisation with Gedde Watanabe, who would later become her co-star.
Pollack's character, Marlene, only has one scene in the film where she is in a car with Molly Ringwald, who plays the protagonist, Samantha Baker. Despite not having an abundance of screen time, Pollack's character is still very memorable. Pollack recalled that because she was older than the character she portrayed, Ringwald looked very young next to her, and as a result, the two never appear on screen together.
Pollack has since become an internationally recognized pop culture icon for her role as the "sexy American girlfriend" in Sixteen Candles. To this day, she still gets recognized for her role in the film.
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Pollack's character was an Amazon who took an instant liking to Long Duk Dong
Debbie Pollack played Marlene in the 1984 film Sixteen Candles. Pollack's character was an Amazonian athlete, physically larger than Long Duk Dong, who was played by Gedde Watanabe. Long Duk Dong is a Chinese foreign exchange student who stays with the grandparents of the film's protagonist, Samantha Baker.
In the film, Long Duk Dong finds a love interest in Marlene. Gedde Watanabe recalled that some sequences with Long Duk Dong and his love interest were left out of the final cut of the movie, including a scene with the pair in bed smoking.
Long Duk Dong has been criticised as a grotesque stereotype and an offensive Asian caricature. The character has been described as cringeworthy and emblematic of Hollywood's reliance on offensive Asian stereotypes. However, Watanabe said he had a great experience making the film and that he was a bit naive about his role.
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Pollack's Sixteen Candles role was her screen debut
Debbie Pollack's role in Sixteen Candles was her screen debut. Pollack played the "new-style sexy American girlfriend" to foreign exchange student "Long Duk Dong", played by Gedde Watanabe. Pollack's character, Marlene, is described as an Amazon who takes an instant liking to Long Duk Dong.
Pollack's performance in Sixteen Candles is often regarded as memorable, despite not having much screen time. She is remembered for her scenes with Watanabe, which added comic relief to the film. In one scene, she is seen heading into a party with the "Donger" on her arm, with a look of pride on her face.
Pollack has since been recognised for her role in the film, even decades later. In an interview, she mentions that she still gets recognised for her role to this day, especially by people from all over the world.
Sixteen Candles was written and directed by John Hughes and released in 1984. The film is considered a classic coming-of-age story and helped launch the careers of several cast members, including Molly Ringwald, who played the protagonist, Samantha Baker.
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She was older than the character she portrayed
Debbie Pollack played the role of Marlene, the "new-style sexy American girlfriend" of foreign exchange student "Long Duk Dong", in the 1984 coming-of-age film Sixteen Candles. Pollack's character did not have a lot of screen time, but she still played a memorable role. In fact, she is still recognised for her role to this day.
Pollack was older than the character she portrayed in the film. In an interview, she mentions that she appeared in a scene with Molly Ringwald, who played the 16-year-old Samantha Baker. Pollack looked significantly older than Ringwald, so they never appeared on screen together. All the two-shots in that scene were of Gedde Watanabe, who played Long Duk Dong, and Pollack. Director John Hughes made sure nobody looked too old on camera.
Pollack's role in Sixteen Candles was her screen debut. She had no prior expectations of the film and was grateful for the experience she gained. She had started acting at a young age, taking dancing and singing classes at the age of four. She later became involved with the San Diego Junior Theatre and began performing in musicals.
Pollack's role in Sixteen Candles helped launch her acting career. She went on to act in several other films and even won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Independent Shorts International Film Festival in 2024 for her role in the film named Short Film of the Year, Whatever Happened to Jonny Faith.
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Pollack still gets recognised for her role to this day
Debbie Pollack played the role of "'new-style sexy American girlfriend'" Marlene, also known as Lumberjack, in the 1984 coming-of-age film Sixteen Candles. Pollack's character was the love interest of the foreign exchange student "Long Duk Dong", played by Gedde Watanabe.
Pollack made her screen debut in Sixteen Candles, and despite not having a lot of screen time, she still played a memorable role. In an interview, she recalled that she still gets recognised for her role in the film to this day. On a recent vacation to Italy, she was recognised by people from all over the world.
Pollack's character, Marlene, was an Amazon who took an instant liking to Long Duk Dong. The scenes with Pollack and Watanabe often added comic relief to the film. In one interview, Pollack recalled that her audition for the role was mostly improvisation. She also mentioned that she was older than the character she portrayed, which is why she never appears on screen with Molly Ringwald, who played the protagonist, Sam Baker.
In addition to her role in Sixteen Candles, Pollack has also worked with Hollywood royalty like Carol Burnett, Dick Martin, Jackie Cooper, and John Ritter. She has appeared Off-Broadway in New York's oldest Vaudeville Theater and has stepped away from acting for almost 15 years to raise her two children. Pollack has also acquired four SEC licenses to sell multi-million-dollar portfolios as a Vice President of a national investment firm.
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Frequently asked questions
Debbie Pollack was likely in her late teens or early twenties when she played the role of Marlene in Sixteen Candles. In an interview, Pollack mentions that she was older than the character she portrayed, and that she still gets recognized for her role to this day.
Debbie Pollack's character in Sixteen Candles was named Marlene, also known as Lumberjack.
Sixteen Candles is a coming-of-age film about a girl, Samantha Baker, navigating high school and dealing with a crush on a senior classmate, Jake Ryan, as she approaches her 16th birthday.
Debbie Pollack played the role of the "new-style sexy American girlfriend" to the foreign exchange student "Long Duk Dong".
Debbie Pollack continued to act and has since become a producer and writer. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Independent Shorts International Film Festival in 2024 for the film Short Film of the Year.
