Four decades after Ferris Bueller’s Day Off first hit screens, members of the cast are looking back on the film and their time making it.
Released on June 11, 1986, John Hughes’ teen comedy became one of the era’s most beloved films, with its carefree story and memorable trip through Chicago helping it earn classic status. The movie starred Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller, with Mia Sara as his girlfriend Sloane Peterson and Alan Ruck as his best friend Cameron Frye.
The film remains a pop-culture touchstone in 2026, with fans still quoting it, revisiting it on streaming, and debating whether it really needs a sequel. For Sara, however, the legacy has always been more complicated than the affection it inspires.
In a rare new interview, Sara said she does not often talk about the movie because “making ‘Ferris Bueller’ was not that good an experience for me.” She added that she is “very aware of what a precious thing this movie is” and did not want to disappoint fans with an overly negative recollection.
She also spoke about her relationship with Hughes during production.
“I’m very aware of what a precious thing this movie is, and I don’t want to disappoint people. But I didn’t get along well with John,” she said, referring to director John Hughes.
Sara described Hughes, who died in 2009, as a “strange guy”.
According to her, he hoped the cast would spend more time together away from filming and wanted to introduce them 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 said, adding that she “didn’t have the emotional maturity” to deal with her own ego, or other people’s.
Jennifer Grey, who played Ferris’ older sister Jeanie Bueller, has also reflected on Hughes over the years, though her experience sounded very different. Grey has described him as unusual but brilliant, saying she connected with him and considered him a genius.
Although Sara went on to appear in other projects, including Apprentice to Murder, Daughter of Darkness, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story and Timecop, she later stepped away from acting more publicly and built a quieter life away from Hollywood. In recent years, she has spoken about spending time in England and focusing on poetry and family life.
Her career did take her back to the screen in 2025, when she appeared in The Life of Chuck, marking a rare return to film after more than a decade away from feature roles.
She told the Times that her career “wasn’t happy overall”.
Still, her acting work led to an important part of her personal life, as she met her husband Brian Henson through the industry. Henson directed the TV series Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, which she appeared in several years after Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Even with the film’s enormous popularity, a proper sequel never materialised. Over the years, there have been occasional discussions about revisiting the world of Ferris Bueller, including a spin-off centered on the two valets who take Cameron’s Ferrari for a joyride, but no follow-up has ever reached the screen.
For fans, the original remains the version worth returning to again and again.