Mia Sara knows Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is still precious to fans. Her own memories of making it are more complicated.
The actress, who played Sloane Peterson in the 1986 John Hughes comedy, said in a rare interview that filming the movie was “not that good” of an experience for her, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“I don’t really give interviews because making Ferris Bueller was not that good an experience for me,” Sara told The Sunday Times. “But I’m very aware of what a precious thing this movie is, and I don’t want to disappoint people.”
She recently returned to screens in Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck, but Sloane remains the role most viewers still connect to her name.
Sara Said She Did Not Connect With John Hughes
Sara said one of the main reasons the experience was difficult was her relationship with Hughes, who wrote, directed and produced Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. “I didn’t get along well with John,” she told The Sunday Times, according to Entertainment Weekly.
She described Hughes as “a strange guy” and said he wanted the cast to spend time together and watch French New Wave films. Sara said the rest of the cast was more seasoned, while she was a young New Yorker who did not yet have the emotional maturity to handle the personalities around her, including her own.
That recollection is different from the way some of her co-stars described Hughes in the same profile. Entertainment Weekly noted that Jennifer Grey called him “very playful” and said she connected with him.
The Movie Became Bigger Than She Expected
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off became one of the defining teen comedies of the 1980s. Sara starred opposite Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller and Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye, while Grey played Ferris’ sister, Jeanie.
The movie also became Sara’s signature role, even though it was only her second film part. Entertainment Weekly reported that the film grossed more than $70 million on a roughly $5 million budget after its 1986 release.
She Said Acting Was ‘Not a Happy Career’
She told The Sunday Times that she never had the resilience for the audition process, even though there are parts of her acting career she is proud of.
“Overall it was not a happy career for me,” she said, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Sara continued acting after Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, including roles in Timecop, Birds of Prey and other projects, but she gradually moved away from the industry. In a recent People interview, she said she now lives in a 17th-century farmhouse in Suffolk, England, and spends much of her time writing poetry.
The Life of Chuck Brought Her Back to the Screen
Sara returned to the big screen with Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck, the Stephen King adaptation starring Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan and Mark Hamill. Good Morning America reported that the film marked her first movie role in 14 years.
At the Los Angeles premiere, Sara told Entertainment Weekly that returning to the spotlight felt “a little daunting,” but said she was grateful for the chance. She also told People that Flanagan personally drew her back in after the two met socially.
“He just said, ‘Well, don’t you ever really want to work again?’” Sara said. When Flanagan asked what she would do if he offered her a role, she told him, “Well, okay, if you offer me something, I’ll do it.”