'Ferris Bueller's Day Off': Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Ferris Bueller. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, d**kheads -- they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude. And frankly, so do we.


And we're in good company: Since the 1986 classic 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' introduced John Hughes' anti-establishment icon to the world, millions of fans have embraced Bueller's carpe diem philosophy. But while living for the moment is a good way to enjoy a day off from school, how well does it hold up over a lifetime?


Almost 25 years later, we check in with the cast and crew of 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' to find out the answer.

Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Matthew Broderick

Role: Ferris Bueller

Then: After starting out on Broadway, Broderick was coming off his first film hits, 'War Games' and 'Ladyhawke,' when he landed the title role in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' instantly catapulting him to the status of pop culture icon.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Matthew Broderick

Role: Ferris Bueller

Now: Broderick followed up his success with critically lauded turns in more serious films, including 'Glory' and 'Election.' When the big screen roles began to dry up in the 90s, though, Broderick returned to the stage and has become a Broadway staple thanks to shows such as 'The Producers.' After being briefly engaged to Jennifer Grey, who played his sister in 'Ferris Bueller,' Broderick married actress Sarah Jessica Parker in 1997. The couple has three children.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Alan Ruck

Role: Cameron Frye

Then: Like co-star Matthew Broderick, Ruck began his career on stage, transitioning to the big screen with 1983's 'Class,' which also featured the film debuts of stars such as John Cusack and Andrew McCarthy. He and Broderick teamed up for the Broadway version of 'Biloxi Blues' before Ruck took on the role of Ferris Bueller's repressed high school sidekick, Cameron Frye, at the decidedly mature age of 29.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Alan Ruck

Role: Cameron Frye

Now: Following the success of 'Ferris Bueller,' Ruck bounced around Hollywood as a character actor before landing his first television hit, 'Spin City,' where he co-starred as mayoral chief of staff Stuart Bondek for six seasons. Nowadays, in a role reversal from his 'Ferris Bueller' days, Ruck can be seen laying down the law to rambunctious students as Dean Bowman on 'Greek.'


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Mia Sara

Role: Sloane Peterson

Then: After beginning her acting career at the age of 14 on 'All My Children,' Sara segued to the big screen playing Tom Cruise's love interest in the 1985 fantasy 'Legend.' It was her only film role before being cast as Ferris Bueller's more mature girlfriend, the calm and winsomely self-aware Sloan Peterson.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Mia Sara

Role: Sloane Peterson

Now: 'Ferris Bueller' proved to be the high point of Sara's career. Since then, "highlights" have included playing Jean Claude Van Damme's love interest in 'Timecop' and the role of comic book villainess Harley Quinn on the short-lived TV series 'Bird of Prey.' Her biggest co-stars, though, have been off-camera; after a marriage to and subsequent divorce from Sean Connery's son Jason, Sara is currently involved with Jim Henson's son Brian, with whom she has a daughter.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Jeffrey Jones

Role: Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students

Then: After years of toiling in the industry as a bit player, Jones got his big break when he was cast as Emperor Joseph II in 1984's 'Amadeus,' a role which garnered Jones a Golden Globe nomination and led to his casting as 'Ferris Bueller's' vindictive, petty and extremely tenacious dean of students, Ed Rooney.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Jeffrey Jones

Role: Edward R. Rooney, Dean of Students

Now: After 'Ferris Bueller,' Jones spent the next two decades making a solid living as a character actor in both television and film. He finally landed another breakout role, as A. W. Merrick on HBO's critically beloved series 'Deadwood,' but any career momentum was negated by a 2003 arrest and subsequent no contest plea for inducing a minor to pose for pornographic photos, which landed Jones a role nobody wants to fill: registered sex offender.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off

Jennifer Grey

Role: Jeanie Bueller

Then: When Grey appeared as Ferris Bueller's uptight, perpetually irritated sister Jeanie, it came in the middle of a string of popular hits that helped shape pop culture in the 80s: two years prior to 'Ferris Bueller,' she co-starred in the Cold War classic 'Red Dawn,' and a year later she helped turn 'Dirty Dancing' into an instant classic.


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Where Are They Now? Ferris Buellers Day Off