The cast of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” now and then

Anand Kumar
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Anand Kumar
Anand Kumar
Senior Journalist Editor
Anand Kumar is a Senior Journalist at Global India Broadcast News, covering national affairs, education, and digital media. He focuses on fact-based reporting and in-depth analysis...
- Senior Journalist Editor
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A look at what Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jennifer Gray and more have been up to in the years since the film hit theaters on June 11, 1986.

From left: Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, and Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

From left: Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, and Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Paramount/Everett Collection Courtesy

from Sixteen candles to Breakfast ClubJohn Hughes films are known for giving a voice to the generation that came of age in the 1980s. They captured the social pressures and responsibilities that teens struggled against in high school, giving them permission to accept the messy reality of their lives and embrace the present. Ferris Bueller’s Day Offwhich was released in theaters 40 years ago on June 11, 1986, was the epitome of all that. As Matthew Broderick said in the title role: “Life moves so fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you might miss it.”

The film follows Ferris Bueller, a child who has his parents and most everyone else wrapped around his little finger. He’s mastered the art of faking illness, and uses this scheme to skip school and enjoy one last day in Chicago with his girlfriend (Sloan, played by Mia Sara) and best friend (an uptight Cameron, played by Alan Ruck), before the guys graduate. Among their exploits, the trio goes to a Cubs game, a fancy restaurant, the Art Institute of Chicago, and a downtown parade, where Ferris drives a float and lip-syncs “Danke Schoen” for the crowd.

Why not? When you’re about to leave for college and everything is going to change, sometimes the best thing you can do is leave school for a day to enjoy life — and make sure you don’t miss it.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the popular teen film, THR Checks in with the cast of this culture-defining hit film — including Broderick, Ruck, Sara, and Jennifer Gray — to see where life has taken them in the decades since its release.

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Anand Kumar
Senior Journalist Editor
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Anand Kumar is a Senior Journalist at Global India Broadcast News, covering national affairs, education, and digital media. He focuses on fact-based reporting and in-depth analysis of current events.
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