“I know how it begins, I know how it ends – I don’t ever know the rest, but that doesn’t seem to matter,” Hughes once said of his writing process. “Often, I fly by the seat of my pants.”
That loose, inspired energy is all over Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which follows Ferris (Matthew Broderick), his neurotic best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) as they ditch school for an unforgettable day tearing through Chicago – all while trying to stay one step ahead of suspicious Dean of Students Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones).
Hughes had Broderick in mind from the beginning, and the role became one of the actor’s most iconic. But while Ferris and his friends were high schoolers on screen, most of the cast was well past graduation age. Broderick was 24, Jennifer Grey – who played Ferris’ fed-up sister, Grey – was 26, and Ruck was 29.
Only Sara, at 18, was close to her character’s age. Hughes had assumed he’d need an older actress for Sloane’s poise and confidence, and was stunned to learn Sara was barely out of high school herself.