He’s been acting in film and on stage for four decades, and is about to come to TV with Netflix’s new drama “Painkiller”.
However, actor Matthew Broderick cannot escape one role that continues to define him – the lead of John Hughes’ 1986 comedy classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.
That film followed a teenage schoolboy who skips school with his best friend, Cameron, and his girlfriend for a day in Chicago. The character also regularly breaks the fourth wall to talk to the audience.
These days the actor says he’s come to accept that no matter what else he’ll do in his career, that character will always be his most well-known and lasting contribution in the industry. He tells The Guardian:
“What’s my legacy? Well, I’m Ferris Bueller, I suppose. I have to accept it. And I like it. I’ve made my peace with it.
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.
I always wanted to have a long career, and it’s been 40 years, so I guess I must have done something right.”
Broderick has still managed to rack up many well-known and/or well-received films under his belt, including “WarGames,” “Glory,” “Election,” “Ladyhawke,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Godzilla,” “The Cable Guy,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Stepford Wives,” “The Producers,” “Trainwreck,” and “Manchester by the Sea”.
In “Painkiller,” he plays former president of Purdue Pharma Richard Sackler in a series exploring the opioid epidemic’s origins. He’s soon star alongside his wife Sarah Jessica Parker, in a stage production of “Plaza Suite” in London’s West End.
