There are certain actors and actresses who are forever associated with certain roles. Some actors enjoy such association and some don't. Both attitudes are understandable. 30 years after playing a character for a few short months (in the case of a movie) or a few short years (in the case of a successful TV show), actors and actresses might actually want to be remembered for more than an old character. They also might simply want to bask in the glow of having brought so much joy to someone. Tough call.
Alan Ruck. Every time I see Alan Ruck I think of Cameron Frye. I think of him lying in bed, I think of him kicking his father's car, I think of him pretending to be Sloane's dad. He's done tons of other great things. He's been a starship captain, worked in the New York City mayor's office, and didn't get blown up just because a bus went over 50 miles per hour. To me though, he'll always be Cameron Frye.
Last night he popped up again. He had a beard and was a kooky retired scientist on Eureka, but he was still Cameron Frye. I was still waiting for him to go off about how his father is always riding him. That didn't happen and I didn't really expect it to happen, but it would have been nice.
I don't mean to denigrate Alan Ruck. He really has been in a lot of things and done a wonderful job in them, but Ferris Bueller's Day Off is… okay, I'm a writer and should, possibly, be able to come up with something more slick, but it's Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Sure, I like my '80s Brat Pack stuff as much as the next child of the '80s, but, except for The Breakfast Club, I'm more Ferris Bueller. And, as much as Matthew Broderick (who I also always associate with the movie any time I see him) made the movie, it would have been nothing with out Ruck's Cameron Frye. Frye was, as Bueller well knew, the ying to Bueller's yang.
Article comments
1 - Flatstone
Did you catch the line about his "last ride on the Ferris Wheel?"
2 - Jen
Good call-- I distinctly remember sitting in the theater for Speed and after he wimps out on Keanu Reeves, someone ahead of me yelled, "Shut up, Cameron!" I guess, if you're of a certain age, to us, he'll always remain Cameron Frye.
And speaking of Broderick, did anyone else get creeped out the first time they saw him in Election? I was thinking, "man, Ferris turned into this freak?!"