Downey began building upon theater roles, including in the short-lived off-Broadway musical "American Passion" at the Joyce Theater in 1983, produced by Norman Lear. In 1985, he was part of the new, younger cast hired for "Saturday Night Live", but following a year of poor ratings and criticism of the new cast's comedic talents, he and most of the new crew were dropped and replaced. "Rolling Stone" magazine named Downey the worst "SNL" cast member in its entire run, stating that the "Downey Fail sums up everything that makes "SNL" great." That same year, Downey had a dramatic acting breakthrough when he played James Spader's character's sidekick in "Tuff Turf" and then a bully in John Hughes's "Weird Science". He was considered for the role of Duckie in John Hughes's film "Pretty in Pink" (1986), but his first lead role was with Molly Ringwald in "The Pick-up Artist" (1987). Because of these and other coming-of-age films Downey did during the 1980s, he is sometimes named as a member of the Brat Pack.