Making movies might seem like it’s all fun and games, but at the end of the day, it can actually be a stressful job for the cast and crew. There are budgets to stick to, scenes to shoot, and nervous or entitled egos to manage. Even the most skilled directors and actors sometimes butt heads when it comes to creating a movie. The latest actor to break his silence on an incident with a director is Matthew Broderick, who opened up about his time filming Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with the late director John Hughes.
Appearing on THR's It Happened in Hollywood podcast, Broderick opened up about his time with legendary teen movie director while filming Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He recalled a costume test in the early days of production that left John Hughes feeling less than impressed; he allegedly went so far as to call some of the cast boring, with the actor noting, "He said none of us were ‘fun to watch.'" While there’s no denying Hughes' genius when it came to teen movies, it appears he sometimes acted just like the callous adults in his movies. Per the star:
He was somebody who could get angry at you. Not outwardly angry, but you could tell. He would turn dead. Dead-faced, I would say, ‘What did you think of that?’ And he’d say, ‘I don’t know.’ Just nothing. ‘OK. John doesn’t like that.’ He said, ‘I like when your eyes go wide, and then smaller, and then go wide again.’ I said, ‘If you tell me exactly what my face is doing, I get kind of self-conscious. Now I’m thinking of my face.’ And he was like, ‘Well, then, I won’t direct you at all.’ … And for a few days he didn’t give me anything. Until I finally had to say, ‘John, you have to direct me, come on.’ That was our worst one.
As a big fan of Hughes’ films and of Broderick's performance as Ferris Bueller, this is a bit surprising to me. While it’s no secret that Hollywood directors sometimes create a less-than-ideal work environment for their actors, it’s hard to imagine someone like the director, whose filmography largely had him dealing with teen and young adult actors, doing that same thing.
Thankfully, Broderick was quick to defend the famous director in the same interview, saying:
He took the work very seriously, is what I mean. [John] wasn’t a loosey-goosey person. But he also didn’t hold a grudge and knew how to get himself out of it.
It seems like Matthew Broderick and John Hughes's disagreements stemmed from their desires to make the best movie they could. Thankfully, their hard work paid off, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off became the 10th highest-grossing movie of 1986 and one of the best 80s movies of all time.
Fans can revisit Broderick’s iconic role in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which is available now with a Netflix or Paramount+ subscription. And don’t forget to keep checking our new and recent movie streaming feature for news about when Broderick’s latest role as Laird Becker in No Hard Feelings will be available to watch. If you're a fan of the movie, you might also want to keep an eye out for the Ferris Bueller spin-off that is in development, as well.
Now, to quote Ferris Bueller: “You’re Still here? It’s over. Go home.”
