For 40 years, ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off‘ has been the movie that feels like a perfect spring day. But for the actress who played Sloane Peterson, the memories of making it are not so sunny.
In a rare interview, Mia Sara said that making the 1986 classic was “not that good an experience.” She talked about a complicated production that was very different from the joy you see on screen.
Tension With Director John Hughes on Set
Sara was only 17 when she got the part of Ferris Bueller’s girlfriend. It was a role that made her a Hollywood name, but she walked onto a set where she was much younger than her co-stars. Matthew Broderick was 23, Jennifer Grey was 25, and Alan Ruck was 29. That age gap, along with her youth, created a situation she now says she was not ready for.
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The hardest part was her tense relationship with director John Hughes. “I didn’t get along well with John,” Sara said plainly to The Sunday Times. She called him “a strange guy.” Hughes wanted the cast to bond and had them watch French New Wave films together. However, Sara, who described herself as a “snotty New York kid,” had already seen them.
She remembered a specific fight: “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.” She also admitted she was part of the problem: “I didn’t have the emotional maturity to deal with other people’s egos, or my own.”
Her experience was very different from her co-star Jennifer Grey, who called Hughes “very playful” and said she “really connected with him.”
Mia Sara Opens Up About Unhappiness and Crush on Matthew Broderick
Sara said the struggle on Ferris Bueller was a sign of things to come in her career. She said acting itself made her unhappy, and she eventually walked away from Hollywood. “I never really had the resilience to deal with the audition process,” she said. “There are some things in my career that I’m really proud of, but overall it was not a happy career for me.”
In case you missed it: The Iconic Scene From ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ Was Born Out Of Pure Panic
She also shared a sweet detail from that time. She had a huge crush on Matthew Broderick. “I had a massive crush on Matthew during the filming, but it was very much unrequited,” she admitted. At the time, Broderick was secretly dating Grey, who played his sister in the movie.
Life After Hollywood and Legacy of Ferris Bueller
Even with the difficult shoot, Sara still respects the film. She has mostly avoided talking about it over the years because she did not want to let down its fans. “I’m very aware of what a precious thing this movie is, and I don’t want to disappoint people,” she said.
Today, Sara has found peace far from Hollywood. She lives in a 17th-century farmhouse in Suffolk, England, with her husband, director Brian Henson. She spends her time writing poetry and riding her horse. She recently came back for a role in Mike Flanagan’s ‘The Life of Chuck‘, but she made it clear that the industry she left behind never really felt like home.
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