Matthew Broderick has appeared in dozens of plays and movies since playing grifter Ferris Bueller in the 1986 John Hughes movie that bears the character’s name, but the Tony winner can’t shake him.
Nowadays, he’s OK with that, he told The Guardian in an interview just before the SAG-AFTRA strike began. “What’s my legacy?” he asked himself, “Well, I’m Ferris Bueller, I suppose. I have to accept it. And I like it. I’ve made my peace with it.”
The actor explained, “I did have nice early success. But it’s not easy to maintain that first flush. It’s always a hard adjustment for child actors, young actors. People see the kid out of Leave It to Beaver grown up and they don’t buy it – they want to see little Beaver.”
Broderick added, “People associated me with younger roles, but I wanted them to come with me and get used to the fact that I’m wrinkly. And it was hard. The 90s were hard. Lots of ups and downs. But I always tried to keep at it, keep my heart in it. Hopefully that keeps you in the game.”
The actor also said, “I always wanted to have a long career. And it’s been 40 years, so I guess I must have done something right.”
To that end, Broderick is plotting a West End stage run alongside his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, once again in Plaza Suite, the Neil Simon classic that brought the pair together last year on Broadway.
“I admire her so much,” Broderick said of his costar in the play and in life. “Never mind personally – loving her and all that – but I admire her acting, too…She’s as sharp as can be. She’s got real chops.”
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