Nearly 40 years after “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” became a pop culture phenomenon, Mia Sara revealed she had a far different experience behind the scenes.
Sara reflected on her acting career and her role as Sloane Peterson in the 1986 hit during a recent interview. While Sara acknowledged the movie’s enduring popularity and what it means to generations of fans, she admitted she struggled while working with famed director John Hughes.
“I don’t really give interviews because making ‘Ferris Bueller’ was not that good an experience for me,” she told The Sunday Times. “But I’m very aware of what a precious thing this movie is, and I don’t want to disappoint people. But I didn’t get along well with John.”
The now-59-year-old described Hughes as “a strange guy.”
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“He wanted us all to hang out together and to introduce us to the French New Wave films. But the others were seasoned actors, and I was a snotty New York kid and had seen all those movies, so he was frustrated in that desire,” Sara added. “I didn’t have the emotional maturity to deal with other people’s egos, or my own.”
Looking back on her years in the industry, Sara admitted she found many aspects of acting difficult and ultimately viewed her career with mixed emotions. The movie star later largely abandoned acting and turned to writing poetry instead.
“I never really had the resilience to deal with the audition process,” Sara revealed. “There are some things in my career that I’m really proud of, but overall it was not a happy career for me.”
Decades later, Sara said the movie’s cultural impact remains impossible to ignore.
“My kids say they can see the moment their friends make the connection between me and the movie, and they’ll say, ‘Wow, your mom was hot!’” she said.
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“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” premiered in 1986 and became one of the most popular teen comedies of the decade.
Ferris, played by Matthew Broderick, skipped school to explore Chicago with his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, and his best friend, Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), while they dodged Ferris’ suspicious sister, Jeanie (Jennifer Grey).
The experience filming “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was different for Grey, who began a secret relationship with Broderick shortly after filming began that lasted “about two years.”
“I knew Jennifer a little bit before from a play we’d done together,” Ruck told the outlet. “So when she was cast, she said, ‘Tell me about Matthew, what’s he like?’ I said, ‘He’s very nice looking, and he’s got these ears that stick out,’ And I could see her perk up at the ears reference, so I think that’s what did it.”
Grey added: “And it was not easy to keep hidden on set. The one scene Matthew and I had together — at the end, when Jeanie lets Ferris into the house — I got the giggles so badly that I was literally bleeding from trying to bite my cheek. It was the way he looked at me! The crew was, like, ‘Why don’t you take a walk around the block?’”
“Yeah, I had no chance!” Sara chimed in. “I had a massive crush on Matthew during the filming, but it was very much unrequited.”
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Before audiences embraced Cameron Frye as Ferris’ loyal sidekick, Ruck had to convince casting directors he fit the part. The actor later revealed that his audition with Broderick, his real-life best friend, helped seal the deal.
“The casting directors were, like, ‘Wait a minute, isn’t this guy 28?’” Ruck recalled. “And Cameron was supposed to be 18. Then they saw me, and they said, ‘Oh yeah, he looks like a baby.’ And then when Matthew and I read together, it obviously worked.”
“We have this way of teasing each other that seemed to work for the characters, and we genuinely like each other,” Broderick added.
