5. The struggle to find a Ferris

Given that he's the focus of the film, and on screen for a hefty chunk of the running time, it was essential for Hughes to find the perfect Ferris.

Whoever nabbed the role had to be able to pull of charismatic, cheeky, knowing, witty and free-wheeling.

And a raft of young actors - most of whom are now megastars - were considered for the lead.

Who? Try John Cusack, Jim Carrey, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr were all considered.

And in one of those weird Hollywood six-degree situations, Michael J Fox was on a list but it was Eric Stoltz, who Fox had replaced on Back To The Future, that actually got closer to winning the role, scoring an audition for Ferris.

In the end, though, a young actor by the name of Matthew Broderick, known mostly for WarGames and Ladyhawke, landed the job.

Broderick proved to be a great choice for the lead, throwing in improvisations (including the synthesizer coughs) and dance moves.

After the film, Broderick voiced worries about being typecast since he was so identified with the role: "At the time, smartly or stupidly, I wanted to make sure that I could do other things, because Ferris Bueller was so successful that it worried me," he told The Onion.

"I'm half-Jewish, you know, so I tend to do a lot of worrying. I thought I was never going to be able to do anything else, and that something bad would happen.

"So I figured, 'I've got to do something different," and I deliberately avoided those kinds of roles for a while.

"But then I seemed to get into a period of characters that were more wishy-washy, or schlubby. And on a certain level, I never understood it, because it seemed to me I did pretty well as a wisecracker."

Despite his worries, he was the perfect Ferris. With him in place, Hughes looked for some support...

Next: The rest come together