Leslie Hunterr

Leslie Hunter
Leslie Hunter
	File:LeslieHunterSEF.JPG Leslie Hunter, played by Ally Sheedy.

Leslie Hunter (played by brat pack actress Ally Sheedy) is one of seven main characters in the 1985 cult classic St. Elmo's Fire. Leslie, while a yuppie like her boyfriend Alec Newbury (played by Judd Nelson), has a lot more social sense and is a lot more level-headed than her significant other.

Leslie, wanting to make a career as an architect, moves in with boyfriend Alec at the beginning of the film. When Alec proposes to her, she is reluctant to accept, claiming that she wasn't ready. She becomes increasingly overwhelemed throughout the movie as Alec's pressure for her to marry him keeps getting increasingly heavy. Through an unmentioned whim of her own, she comes to be aware of Alec' affairs with a blonde salesgirl. She, however, for some reason unknown, decides to keep this to herself until one night when Alec goes too far with the issue of their marriage. Alec, upset partially over being caught and partially over being exposed in front of all his friends, kicks Leslie out of the apartment.

Leslie turns to Kevin Dolenz for help. Kevin, who has harbored a secret love for Leslie for a long time, admits his lvoe for her when they both are drunk at his apartment. Leslie, aside from being drunk, is feeling saddened over her loss of Alec, and she and Kevin end up making love. Later, Alec finds out and is very upset.

During the climax of the film, while trying to help friend Jules Jacoby (played by Demi Moore) stop from commiting suicide, Alec almost kills Kevin, but Leslie manages to stop him. This is a defining moment for Leslie's character, as for the first time, she aggresively tells Alec to back off. Up to this point, Leslie had passively let Alec have his ways and moods, or hasn't told him what was really on her mind.

By the end of the movie, she is single, claiming to both of her lovers that she needs her space.

Leslie Hunter, along with each of the 7 main St. Elmo's Fire characters, hasn't reached complete independent stauts and lacks some form of maturity. In Leslie's case, Leslie lacks emotional maturity. For most of the film, Leslie listens to her head over her heart, and lets Alec do a lot of the talking for her.