Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962 in Manhattan, New York) is an American actor famous for such characters as Ferris Bueller, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, David Lightman, and adult Simba. He started off as a teen heartthrob as part of the Brat Pack, but later moved on to more serious roles in The '90s, and has had some success on Broadway as well. He is married to Sarah Jessica Parker, with whom he has three children.
Films and TV shows starred or voice acted in:
- 30 Rock (2008, 2012)
- Adventure Time (2012)
- Bee Movie (2007)
- Better Things (2019)
- Biloxi Blues (1988)
- Bojack Horseman (2017)
- The Cable Guy, alongside Jim Carrey (1996)
- A Christmas Story Live (2017)
- Daybreak (2019)
- Deck the Halls, alongside Danny DeVito (2006)
- Election, alongside Reese Witherspoon (1999)
- Family Business (1989)
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
- The Freshman (1990)
- Glory (1989)
- Godzilla (1998)
- Inspector Gadget (1999)
- Ladyhawke (1985)
- The Lion King (1994)
- Manchester by the Sea (2016)
- Modern Family (2012)
- The Music Man (the Walt Disney Presents remake) (2003)
- No Hard Feelings (2023)
- Only Murders in the Building (2023, As Himself)
- Out On A Limb (1992)
- Painkiller (2023)
- Project X (1987) (Not this one)
- Rick and Morty (2019)
- The Road to Wellville (1994)
- The Stepford Wives remake (2004)
- Strangers with Candy (1999)
- The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
- The Thief and the Cobbler (1994)
- Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
- Trainwreck (2015, As Himself)
- WarGames (1983)
- Wonder Park (2019)
- You Can Count on Me (2000)
Broadway performances:
- How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
- Nice Work If You Can Get It
- Night Must Fall
- The Odd Couple
- The Producers
Tropes:
- Adam Westing: A car commercial broadcast during the 2012 Super Bowl featured Broderick parodying his Ferris role as a grown man.
- I Am Not Spock: He will forever be Ferris Bueller to the world, but Broderick himself has ruled out reappearing as the character and is rumored to be annoyed when people bring it up to him. However, he seems to have softened his stance towards the role; see Adam Westing.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In a variety of his roles, but especially Phillipe the Mouse and Ferris Bueller, he does asides directly to the camera.
- Playing Against Type: He's absolutely chilling as Joseph Sugarman in Bojack Horseman. Also an example of Playing with Character Type, as Joseph is just as friendly and charismatic as his other characters...which just shows that his horrific actions such as having his wife lobotomized was socially acceptable at the time.
- Old Shame:
- He has admitted he was miscast in Godzilla.
- His stance towards the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives that he appeared in.
- Star-Making Role: WarGames, followed by Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
- Those Two Actors: Has teamed up with Nathan Lane on Broadway multiple times (The Producers, The Odd Couple, It's Only a Play) after initially teaming up with him for The Lion King (Lane voiced Timon).
- What Could Have Been:
- He was the first choice to star as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties before Michael J. Fox got cast. In turn, ironically, Fox was the first choice to play Ferris Bueller.
- He was approached by AMC to take the lead role of Breaking Bad as Walter White, but declined, leaving the role to Bryan Cranston (series creator Vince Gilligan wanted Cranston from the start but Executive Meddling forced Broderick on him, until Broderick himself turned it down).
