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Jack Nicholson thought Ferris Bueller’s Day Off would end his career

Ferris Bueller's Day Off was an iconic comedy movie when it was released in 1986, but not everyone was happy about it - including Jack Nicholson.

Best 80s movies: Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is indisputably one of the best ’80s movies out there: launching the careers of teen stars like Matthew Broderick and Jennifer Gray and establishing John Hughes as one of the best teen movie makers of that era.

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off tells the story of Ferris Bueller (Broderick), a streetwise teen who pulls off the most ambitious school skive ever: seeing the sights of Chicago in a red Ferrari along with best friend Cameron and girlfriend Sloane. Despite a resentful sister and eagle-eyed principal on his tail, Bueller manages to, against all odds, get away with skipping school time and time again.

The comedy movie has become a fan favourite, but someone who wasn’t a fan of it at the time was Hollywood royalty Jack Nicholson, who starred in thriller movies like The Shining and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Although he originally spoke out about his distaste for the film back in 1986, his hilarious response to it means that, in the age of the internet, his comments are continually being unearthed and going viral.

In a New York Times interview, he said of the romance movie, “Well, that movie made me feel totally irrelevant to anything that any audience could want and 119 years old.”

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He added, “Believe me, everyone else watching it liked it. And you know, I literally walked out of there thinking my days were numbered. These people are trying to kill me.”

Fortunately, Jack Nicholson’s career very much surpassed Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, making drama movie The Departed among many other highlights. He continued to act up until 2010 before retiring from the industry due to memory loss.