Editing Ferris Bueller's Day Off (section)

===Casting===
Hughes said that he had Broderick in mind when he wrote the screenplay, saying Broderick was the only actor he could think of who could pull off the role, calling him clever and charming.<ref name="broderick-charm">{{cite news| first=Sharon| last=Barrett| title=Broderick taps charm in 'Day Off'| date=1986-06-13 |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3770685.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422062357/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3770685.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-04-22| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|url-access=subscription | access-date=July 21, 2017}}</ref> "Certain guys would have played Ferris and you would have thought, 'Where's my wallet?{{' "}} Hughes said. "I had to have that look; that charm had to come through. [[Jimmy Stewart]] could have played Ferris at 15...I needed Matthew."<ref name="broderick-charm" />  [[Anthony Michael Hall]], who had worked with Hughes on three previous films, was offered the part but turned it down as he was busy with other projects.<ref name="ruckavclub">{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Will |title=Alan Ruck's journey from Ferris Bueller to Sears to the bridge of the Enterprise and beyond |url=https://www.avclub.com/alan-ruck-s-journey-from-ferris-bueller-to-sears-to-the-1827063548 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |publisher=Onion, Inc. |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=July 8, 2018 |archive-date=February 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226002743/https://www.avclub.com/alan-ruck-s-journey-from-ferris-bueller-to-sears-to-the-1827063548 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Guerrasio">{{cite web |date=2021 |last1=Guerrasio |first1=Jason |title=Anthony Michael Hall says he regrets turning down the lead role in 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' |url=https://www.insider.com/anthony-michael-hall-regrets-passing-on-ferris-buellers-day-off-2021-10 |website=Insider |access-date=October 16, 2021 |archive-date=January 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121054459/https://www.insider.com/anthony-michael-hall-regrets-passing-on-ferris-buellers-day-off-2021-10 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other actors who were considered for the role included [[Jim Carrey]],<ref name="carcus">{{cite web | url=https://screenrant.com/ferris-buellers-day-off-movie-actors-almost-cast/ | title=Ferris Bueller's Day Off: The Actors Who Almost Played Ferris | work=Screenrant | date=14 March 2020 | accessdate=20 November 2021 | author=Kandell, Zachary | archive-date=November 20, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120133711/https://screenrant.com/ferris-buellers-day-off-movie-actors-almost-cast/ | url-status=live }}</ref> [[John Cusack]],<ref name="carcus"/> [[Johnny Depp]],<ref>{{cite web |date=September 2, 2021 |first1=Diana |last1=Pearl |first2=Maria |last2=Yagoda |title=Iconic Roles That Were Almost Played by Another Actor |url=https://people.com/movies/iconic-roles-that-were-almost-played-by-another-actors/ |website=People |quote=it could have been Depp twisting-and-shouting through the streets of Chicago. The future ''21 Jump Street'' star was John Hughes's first choice for the title role, but he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. |access-date=July 1, 2021 |archive-date=June 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628210914/https://people.com/movies/iconic-roles-that-were-almost-played-by-another-actors/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[George Clooney]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/actors-who-almost-starred-in-classic-80s-movies | title=19 Actors Who Almost Starred in Classic '80s Movies | date=July 2, 2023 }}</ref> [[Tom Cruise]], and [[Michael J. Fox]].<ref>{{cite web| last=Evans| first=Bradford| title=The Lost Roles of Jim Carrey| date=17 March 2011| publisher=[[Splitsider]]| url=http://splitsider.com/2011/03/the-lost-roles-of-jim-carrey/| access-date=10 August 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808040454/http://splitsider.com/2011/03/the-lost-roles-of-jim-carrey/| archive-date=August 8, 2015| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sara surprised Hughes when she auditioned for the role of Sloane Peterson. "It was funny," she said. "He didn't know how old I was and said he wanted an older girl to play the 17-year-old. He said it would take someone older to give her the kind of dignity she needed. He almost fell out of his chair when I told him I was only 18."<ref>{{cite news| first=Vernon | last=Scott| title=Mia Sara Lands Plum Roles Despite Lack of Training| date=1986-07-16| work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> [[Molly Ringwald]], who had also wanted to play Sloane, said, "John wouldn't let me do it: he said that the part wasn't big enough for me."<ref name="bratpackbook" />

Ruck had auditioned for the role of Bender in ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' that went to [[Judd Nelson]], but Hughes remembered Ruck and cast him as the 17-year-old Cameron Frye.<ref name='Ruck-Casting' /> Hughes based the character of Cameron on a friend of his in high school: "He was sort of a lost person. His family neglected him, so he took that as license to really pamper himself. When he was legitimately sick, he actually felt good, because it was difficult and tiring to have to invent diseases but when he actually had something, he was relaxed."<ref name="DVDCommShoot">{{cite video| title=Ferris Bueller's Day Off-(Commentary by John Hughes)| medium=DVD| publisher=[[Paramount Pictures]]| date=1999-10-19}}</ref> Ruck said the role of Cameron had been offered to [[Emilio Estevez]], who turned it down. "Every time I see Emilio, I want to kiss him," said Ruck. "Thank you!"<ref name="bratpackbook" />

Ruck, then 29, worried about the age difference (he was only 6 years younger than Hughes). "I was worried that I'd be 10 years out of step, and I wouldn't know anything about what was cool, what was hip, all that junk. But when I was going to high school, I didn't know any of that stuff then, either. So I just thought, well, hell—I'll just be me. The character, he's such a loner that he really wouldn't give a damn about that stuff anyway. He'd feel guilty that he didn't know it, but that's it."<ref name='Ruck-Casting'>{{cite news | date=1986-07-03 | first=Diane | last=Haithman | title=Ruck Just Put Himself Into His 'Day Off' Role | newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-07-03-8602170641-story.html | access-date=October 18, 2021 | archive-date=April 7, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407105557/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-07-03-8602170641-story.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Ruck was not surprised to find himself cast young. "No, because, really, when I was 18, I sort of looked 12," he said. "Maybe it's a genetic imbalance."<ref name="Ruck-Casting" />

Ruck and Broderick had previously acted together in the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] production of ''[[Biloxi Blues]]''. Cameron's "Mr. Peterson" voice was an [[in-joke]] imitation of their former director [[Gene Saks]].<ref name="bratpackbook" /> Ruck felt at ease working with Broderick, often sleeping in his trailer. "We didn't have to invent an instant friendship like you often have to do in a movie," said Ruck. "We ''were'' friends."<ref name="bratpackbook" />

Jones was cast as Rooney based on his role in ''[[Amadeus (film)|Amadeus]]'', where he played the emperor; Hughes thought that character's modern equivalent was Rooney.<ref name="DVDCommShoot" /> "My part was actually quite small in the script, but what seemed to be the important part to me was that I was the only one who wasn't swept along by Ferris," recalls Jones.<ref name=Jones>{{cite web |title=Q and A with Jeffrey Jones |date=July 2000 |url=http://www.popculturecorn.com/movies/issues/jun00/interview-jeffreyjones.html |work=Pop Culture Corn |access-date=2010-03-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924205642/http://www.popculturecorn.com/movies/issues/jun00/interview-jeffreyjones.html |archive-date=September 24, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> "So I was the only one in opposition, which presented a lot of opportunities, some of which weren't even in the script or were expanded on. John was receptive to anything I had to offer, and indeed got ideas along the way himself. So that was fun, working with him."<ref name=Jones /> "Hughes told me at the time—and I thought he was just blowing his own horn—he said, 'You are going to be known for this for the rest of your life.' And I thought, 'Sure'... but he was right."<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Coozer |title=Jeffrey Jones |date=1997-10-30 |url=http://www.readjunk.com/interviews/jeffrey-jones/ |publisher=ReadJunk |access-date=2010-03-02 |archive-date=September 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901124550/http://www.readjunk.com/interviews/jeffrey-jones/ |url-status=live }}</ref> To help Jones study for the part, Hughes took him to meet his old vice principal. "This is the guy I want you to pay close attention to," Jones explained to Hughes's biographer Kirk Honeycutt. While meeting him, the VP's coat momentarily flew open revealing a holster and gun attached to the man's belt. This made Jones realize what Hughes had envisioned. "The guy was 'Sign up for the Army quick before I kill you!{{' "}} Jones exclaimed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Honeycutt |first=Kirk |title=John Hughes: A Life in Film: The Genius Behind Ferris Bueller, The Breakfast Club, Home Alone, and more |publisher=Race Point Publishing |date=25 March 2015 |isbn=978-1631060229}}</ref>

Stein says he got the role of Bueller's Economics teacher through [[six degrees of separation]].<ref name='stein-role'>{{cite episode |title=Ben Stein Talks about Famous "Ferris Bueller" Role |airdate=January 10, 2006 |network=[[CNN]] |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/10/sbt.01.html |series=[[Showbiz Tonight]] |credits=Presenters: A.J. Hammer and Brooke Anderson |access-date=2017-07-21 |archive-date=April 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415090017/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/10/sbt.01.html |url-status=live }}</ref> "[[Richard Nixon]] introduced me to a man named [[Bill Safire]], who's a ''New York Times'' columnist. He introduced me to a guy who's an executive at [[Warner Brothers]]. He introduced me to a guy who's a casting director. He introduced me to John Hughes. John Hughes and I are among the only Republicans in the picture business, and John Hughes put me in the movie," Stein said.<ref name='stein-role' /> Hughes said that Stein was an easy and early choice for the role of the teacher: "He wasn't a professional actor. He had a flat voice, he looked like a teacher."<ref name="DVDCommShoot" />