The Cast of Ferris Bueller's Day Off

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

There you have it - a mantra for a generation...or just an excuse for kids playing hooky the world over?

An 80’s cult favourite, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was a buddy movie featuring ‘one man’s struggle to take it easy’ directed by the late John Hughes (Home Alone, The Breakfast Club).

For one last hoorah before parting ways and heading off to college, Ferris Bueller fakes illness and convinces his girlfriend, Sloane Peterson, and hypochondriac best pal Cameron Frye to ditch school, steal Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari and embark on a raucous downtown Chicago adventure.

With Bueller’s enraged sister Jeanie and school Dean Ed Rooney hot on their heels to catch Bueller in the act, this classic film, declared the number one teen film of all time by Empire magazine in 2005, still resonates with people of all ages even today.

So whatever happened to all of them? Let’s find out...

Matthew Broderick - Ferris Bueller

It seems the best thing Ferris Bueller ever did was play hooky because the sky certainly was the limit for Matthew Broderick.

A star of stage and screen, Broderick has landed numerous lead roles in films including The Producers, The Stepford Wives, Inspector Gadget and the ‘worm guy’ in 1998 blockbuster Godzilla.

Broderick has also leant his vocal talents to many animated mammals including Adam, lead bee in Bee Movie, Despereaux the mouse and voices the adult Simba in The Lion King movies.

On a personal note Broderick was briefly engaged to Jennifer Grey after meeting on the Bueller set but Broderick married Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker in 1997. The couple have a son, James, and recently gave birth to twin girls, Marion and Tabitha.

Here’s the happy family now

It seems life couldn’t be better right now for wee Ferris.

Alan Ruck - Cameron Frye

Apart from his memorable turn as Ferris’ hypochondriac best mate John Hughes, Alan Ruck is also widely remembered for his role as Stuart Bondek, the lecherous, power hungry mayoral staff member in 90’s American sitcom Spin City.

Ruck secured a number of minor character roles in various Hollywood productions including the annoying out-of-towner Doug in thrills-a-minute blockbuster Speed, storm chaser Robert ‘Rabbit’ Nurick in Twister and captained the USS Enterprise-B in Star Trek: Generations.

In 2005, Ruck assumed Broderick’s former role as Leo Bloom in the Broadway version of Mel Brooks’ The Producers.

More recently though, Alan has surfaced in various US dramas, Stargate: Atlantis, Ghost Whisperer, Boston Legal and A Town Called Eureka to name but a few.

Of late, Alan has most recently appeared this year as Charlie in American mystery drama Persons Unknown. Watch the gripping trailer for it here

Mia Sara - Sloane Peterson

Playing the lucky girlfriend to Bueller, Mia Sara never really hit the big time like much of her cohort, but then the golden fingers of fame don’t fondle everyone...

With various, relatively unnoticed credits on many poorly performing films, Sara had limited success - her one exception playing wife to the ‘Muscles from Brussels’ Jean Claude Van Damme in Timecop but of late she seems to have dropped off the showbiz radar...

One thing she did succeed at was gaining herself a private pilot’s licence and she was even married to Sean Connery’s son, Jason for six years. Together the couple have a son called Dashiell.

She is/was (it’s all very fuzzy!) involved with Brian Henson, son of Muppets creator Jim Henson. The couple have a daughter together.

Here’s what she looks like today

Jeffrey Jones - Edward R. Rooney

Jeffrey Jones played the hapless school Dean intent on catching Bueller red-handed. But the supremely lucky Bueller always managed to stay one step ahead of the bungling authority figure.

Proving a favourite of esteemed director Tim Burton, Jeffrey was cast in Beetlejuice, Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow and other film credits include The Devil’s Advocate, The Hunt For Red October and Stuart Little.

Controversially in 2002, Jones was arrested for possession of child pornography and employing a 14 year old boy to pose for pornographic photographs. After pleading no contest to the former charge, he was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to undergo counselling and register as a sex offender.

It seems though Jones is still working and his last notable performance was playing the newspaper publisher A.W Merrick in HBO’s Western drama Deadwood.

Jennifer Grey - Jeanie "Jean/Shauna" Bueller

Jennifer Grey made her mark playing Ferris’ resentful sister Jeanie but it was in Dirty Dancing where she skyrocketed to fame.

Jennifer still holds a place in every woman’s heart and has probably been the cause of many a back problem and the scourge of every obedient boyfriend trying to recreate that lift.

We were so intrigued as to what she’s been up to we already have a Where Are They Now? page for her – check it out here

And there we have it; you can now sleep undisturbed without the looming thoughts of where some high-school-dodging, Ferrari-thieving, 80’s film stars ended up...and if you can’t, seek help.