John Hughes‘ 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is one of the all-time teen movies and may be the most popular film of his career. But Indiewire reports that according to star Matthew Broderick, it wasn’t always rosy on the film’s set. In fact, Broderick’s relationship with Hughes making the film was strained, with the director at one point going so far as to call the actor’s performance “boring.”
Ferris Bueller, boring? That’s what Broderick said on the latest episode of THR’s “It Happened In Hollywood Podcast.” Broderick talked about making “Day Off” on the podcast and disclosed how difficult Hughes was to work with sometimes. “He was not easygoing in some ways,” Broderick described the director. “He was nervous it wouldn’t come out right.”
And then Broderick mentioned an early screen test that put actor and director at odds. “I remember we did a costume test early on, “Broderic. continued. “We walked around the streets of Chicago in our costumes and they filmed us — me, Alan [Ruck], Jennifer Grey, and Mia [Sara]. That was a big drama. 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.”
Bear in mind that Broderick was “not a total newcomer” when he shot “Day Off,” having starred in “War Games” three years earlier. But Hughes’ comments still ruffled the actor’s feathers. “To have him say, ‘I’m not used to having somebody be so dead,’ or whatever he said to me. I wasn’t really ‘in it’ or something,” Broderick recalled. “That happened and I said, ‘So get somebody you like.’”
That wasn’t the only time Broderick and Hughes had issues on set. Broderick brought up another anecdote later on the podcast: “[Hughes] 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.”
But Hughes and Broderick eventually made things work, although Broderick could always tell when the director wasn’t happy with something. “He was somebody who could get angry at you, not outwardly angry, but you could tell,” Broderick continued. “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.’” But Broderick also knew it was because Hughes, “He took the work very seriously is what I mean. [Hughes] wasn’t a loosey-goosey person. But he also didn’t hold a grudge and knew how to get himself out of it.”
And obviously, the creative friction between Broderick and Hughes was magical because “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” still stands the test of time.
