'He would turn dead-faced': Matthew Broderick reveals 'Ferris Bueller' director John Hughes 'was not easygoing in some ways' on set

'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,' said Matthew Broderick
PUBLISHED JUN 2, 2023
Matthew Broderick had a tumultuous relationship with ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ in director John Hughes (L) on the set (Netflix and John W Ferguson/Getty Images)
Matthew Broderick had a tumultuous relationship with ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ in director John Hughes (L) on the set (Netflix and John W Ferguson/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Matthew Broderick recently opened up on his hit comedy movie ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,’ as the actor shared that he felt ‘nervous’ that the flick ‘wouldn’t come out right.’ During The Hollywood Reporter’s 'It Happened in Hollywood' podcast, the ‘Inspector Gadget’ actor talked about filming the 1986 teen comedy, and said the director John Hughes, ‘was not easygoing in some ways.’ However, the 61-year-old actor added that he still had plenty of fond memories with him.

That project also launched the 23-year-old actor’s career, and while filming in Chicago, the actor revealed that it was a tense environment. While recalling the cast members Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, and Jennifer Grey, he said: "did a costume test early on; in the shoot, things got hot at the set." “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," Broderick added.

'I won’t direct you at all'

The actor further continued, "So to have [Hughes] 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. That happened and I said, ‘So get somebody you like.'" before adding, “He was somebody who could get angry at you.” Broderick added that they did sort their differences within ‘half a day’ during the podcast, “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. ‘Okay. John doesn’t like that,'” the actor remembered.

'I wasn’t a loosey-goosey person'

Broderick further added on his director, "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." "[John] wasn’t a loosey-goosey person," he told THR. "But he also didn’t hold a grudge and knew how to get himself out of it,” as per People.

John Hughes died in 2009 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 59.

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