Alan Ruck reveals truth behind Ferris Bueller’s Day Off car crash scene

Did Alan Ruck really crash a Ferrari in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? And how much was he paid? The star reveals the behind-the-scenes secrets.

The car was totalled – but it wasn’t totally real.

Alan Ruck shot to international fame in the 1986 John Hughes comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as cynical and nervous teen Cameron Frye, the New York Post reports.

One famous scene in the coming-of-age film showed Cameron crashing his father’s sleek 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder.

But did the Succession actor actually damage the iconic, cherry red automobile?

“Everyone can relax and breathe a sigh of relief because they were all crap. They were all kit cars,” the Spin City actor, 65, recently said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! regarding the epic crash scene.

“We couldn’t afford a real Ferrari. It was a Mustang chassis with a fibreglass body.

“They were just wretched,” he said, noting that they had three versions of the car. “They wouldn’t start.”

To make things worse, their shoddy construction required numerous takes to do that spectacular sequence – and led to an impromptu celebration when it was completed.

“We did this one scene 16 times because the car would not start,” he remembered. “And when we sent that one out the window, the crew cheered. They were jumping up and down.”

Ruck also revealed to Kimmel exactly how much he was paid for his role as Cameron.

“I made $40,000. It was my first big part in a movie, and they’re going to find any excuse not to pay you,” Ruck said.

Ruck currently plays political hopeful Connor Roy on HBO’s hit Succession.

He told The Post last month that he actually almost missed out on his audition for the family drama.

“I was home in LA and I was trying to get back to work in Chicago,” he revealed.

“A lot of family stuff came up during the day and I was like, ‘I can’t, I can’t go to this audition.’ And then finally, I came out of music class with my two-year-old son, and there were half a dozen voicemails. And they said, ‘Just go to [Succession producer] Adam McKay’s house before you leave town. And I did.”

He said that he arrived at his audition unprepared and even ended up improvising scenes. Somehow, his method worked and, by the time he went back to Chicago, there was a call telling him he’d gotten the part.

Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Ruck also dished about his Ferris Bueller character and how at the time the movie was released he didn’t think it would be as celebrated as it is now.

“I remember I went to a rough cut screening with [co-stars] Jennifer Grey and Mia Sara and Jeffrey Jones,” he said.

“We were all mortified because we thought it was a piece of sh*t,” he said, while also realising how blessed he has been career-wise.

“It’s just about every 10 years or so, somebody from the top shelf reaches down and says, ‘Alan, why don’t you come hang out with us for a bit,’” he said. “And so Succession is just continuing my lucky streak.”

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission