Matthew Broderick And John Hughes Didn't Get Along On The Ferris Bueller Set
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" remains the quintessential '80s story of teenage suburban revolt almost forty years after it was released. Matthew Broderick had already appeared on Broadway and made his big screen debut with "War Games" and the criminally under-seen medieval fantasy romance "Ladyhawke." But it was his role as a dashing high school rebel that sent his career into the stratosphere.
With all the natural charisma Broderick gave Ferris, it seemed perfectly reasonable that his character would be able to stay home, play sick, and skip school while still being the perfect son and the most popular kid in high school. Ferris made kids everywhere think they could do anything — even jump on board a parade float lip-synching "Twist and Shout" in front of a roaring crowd. Everyone wanted to either be Ferris or be around him, and Broderick was electric in the part.
It was a different story, however, when production on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" first began on location in Chicago in September of 1985. Director John Hughes had already reinvented the modern teen comedy with an improbable string of hits, starting with "Sixteen Candles," which was followed by "The Breakfast Club" and "Weird Science" in quick succession. After working with future Brat Pack alumni Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, and Anthony Michael Hall, Hughes wasn't convinced that Broderick had the right energy to pull off the role of Ferris.
Appearing on The Hollywood Reporter's "It Happened in Hollywood" podcast, the actor recalled Hughes being somewhat dismayed after some early costume test footage came back featuring him, Alan Ruck, Jennifer Grey and Mia Sara. "That was a big drama," he remembered. "When the footage came back, he said none of us were 'fun to watch.' We were 'boring' in our tests. Actually, some of us he did like, but some he did not, and I was one he did not."
'What is wrong with you?'
Both Hughes and Broderick apparently continued to butt heads, with the red hot filmmaker telling his lead actor that he wasn't acting like he was truly in the moment on set. Broderick's cool exterior had also been brought up by other directors, so maybe Hughes had a point at the time. Broderick admitted to THR:
"I've heard that from other directors, too. I do drive people crazy sometimes because I don't appear to be doing anything sometimes, it seems. But, hopefully, eventually, I do. He's not the first director to grab me at some point and say, 'What is wrong with you?'"
That initial spat led to a few other minor quibbles on set, and let Broderick know that Hughes wasn't always a delight to be around during production. "He was somebody who could get angry at you," he said. "Not outwardly angry, but you could tell. He would turn dead." When Hughes didn't like something, he wasn't someone who would sugarcoat things, which led Broderick to start feeling self-conscious playing a role that calls for an extreme extrovert. The worst of it came when Hughes refused to give Broderick any direction at all for multiple days in a row.
They finally came to an understanding, although the two never ended up working together on another project again. Even though it was a teen comedy at the end of the day, Broderick learned that Hughes still wanted a certain level of perfection. "He took the work very seriously is what I mean," he said. "[John] wasn't a loosey-goosey person. But he also didn't hold a grudge and knew how to get himself out of it." As the auteur of adolescent angst, it's nice to know that Hughes could still be an adult sometimes.