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Hold up, imagine Johnny Depp as Ferris Bueller. Crazy, right? That almost happened before Matthew Broderick took up the role. Back in the ‘80s, Depp was chosen for Ferris in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The catch? A packed schedule forced him to turn it down. And just like that, Broderick became the charming troublemaker we know and love.
As Depp himself admitted on Inside the Actors Studio, “I was offered the part as Ferris, but couldn’t accept due to scheduling conflicts.” He wasn’t salty about it, though. In fact, he was all about giving props to Broderick.
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Now, let’s hit rewind. Johnny Depp was still climbing the Hollywood ladder in A Nightmare on Elm Street days. Imagine him as Ferris Bueller—would Ferris have traded charm for a brooding edge? We’ll never know, but Matthew Broderick turned Ferris into the scheming, lovable teen we all still quote.
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Depp passed, and Broderick won big. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off crushed it at the box office, becoming 1986’s top-grossing flick. It was Broderick’s show-stealing moment.
It’s wild to think how close Depp came to becoming Ferris. Would it have been as legendary with him in the lead? Maybe. But Broderick brought the perfect balance of mischief and wit and that “I can’t believe he just did that” vibe we all love about Ferris. Depp would go on to make his own legendary roles (we’re looking at you, Pirates of the Caribbean), but that Ferris part? It was meant for Broderick.
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It’s a fun alternate universe to think about—Depp as Ferris and Broderick doing something else—but in the end, we got the Ferris we needed. So next time you’re skipping school or living vicariously through a teen classic, remember: Matthew Broderick made Ferris his own, and Depp? Well, he had his own magic to make.
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