“Ferris Bueller” Book Reveals Other ‘80s Teen Heartthrob Almost Landed Titular Role Instead of Matthew Broderick

Bailey RichardsSat, April 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC

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Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller; Jon CryerCredit: Entertainment Pictures/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock; Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty -

Jon Cryer was considered to play Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, according to a new book about the 1986 teen comedy

Director John Hughes and studio execs thought of casting Cryer in the role, per Jason Klamm's upcoming book Ferris Bueller…You’re My Hero: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Day Off

Cryer admits in the book to being "a little jealous" of Matthew Broderick, who got the role, and says he only ever knew he was up for Alan Ruck's character

Matthew Broderick's career-defining role as Ferris Bueller almost went to a fellow '80s heartthrob.

John Hughes, who wrote and directed the beloved 1986 teen comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, originally pitched a different actor to play the titular role before Broderick got the iconic part, according to the upcoming book Ferris Bueller…You’re My Hero: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Day Off.

In an excerpt of the book shared by Entertainment Weekly, author Jason Klamm explains that while Hughes was pitching the film, he and Paramount executives considered someone else to play the high schooler who fakes sick to skip school in the Chicago-set flick: Jon Cryer, a.k.a. Duckie from Pretty in Pink, another beloved classic from the Hughes catalog.

Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck as their 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' charactersCredit: Paramount/Getty

But Cryer, 60, told Klamm that he was never aware that he was considered for the titular role — only Cameron Frye, Bueller’s friend, who was ultimately played by Alan Ruck. On the filmmaker and execs’ consideration for the iconic lead role, he said it was “news to me.”

Asked if his team ever informed him of the consideration for Ferris Bueller, the Two and a Half Men star told the author, “Yes, for the Alan Ruck character.”

“I mean, I'm just too similar to Matthew,” he said of why he likely wasn't cast as Cameron — a sentiment he has stated before, reflecting on how he and Broderick, 64, were often compared to each other at the height of their Brat Pack days.

Klamm also writes in the book, which hits shelves June 16, that Cryer “did feel like he was missing out," since Hughes often came to set on Pretty in Pink while Ferris Bueller was also in production.

Jon Cryer in 1987Credit: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect

"Ferris Bueller sounded a little more antically comedic than Pretty in Pink was," Cryer said, per the excerpt shared by EW. “It sounded like he was going to have a great time, and I was like, 'Oh, that would have been a fun project to do with him.' ”

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“I recall being a little jealous at the time," Cryer added.

Hughes muse Anthony Michael Hall is also long-rumored to have been considered for the lead role in Ferris Bueller, which also starred Mia Sara, Jennifer Grey and Charlie Sheen.

Hall, 57, later wrote that the filmmaker “actually had written Ferris Bueller for me,” but they “both determined that I should move on to other things,” per EW. (Hughes never publicly confirmed Hall’s claim.)

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Matthew Broderick as Ferris BuellerCredit: CBS via Getty

Speaking with PEOPLE at the premiere of Andrew McCarthy's documentary BRATS in 2024, Cryer said that he and Broderick are no longer mistaken for each other — a frequent occurrence in the ‘80s.

"No, Matthew and I have since parted ways,” he said at the time, joking that the Glory actor “still has hair,” unlike him.

“He still has a magnificent head of hair, God bless him,” Cryer continued. “He should have it. He should work it as much as possible. You should enjoy it. But I have gone the other direction."

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”