Matthew Broderick on John Hughes, the Never-Finished Margaret, and His New Film Wonderful World

You were a friend of Josh Goldin's and he wrote Wonderful World with you in mind. Is that a lot of pressure to do the project when he pitches it to you?

He never quite said he wrote it for me, I don't think, but he said while he was writing, "I think this would be good for Matthew." I think he saw me as a good way to get a little money for his movie, certainly, but yeah, it would have been very awkward if I didn't like it. Fortunately, I did. It's hard enough to read something and think about whether you should do it -- when it's your friend, you go, "I hope I'm not just doing this because he's my friend. This movie has to be worth doing." I certainly wasn't sure, but I enjoyed reading it and I wanted to work with him.

I've heard that the main character is not unlike Josh. Did you feel like you were playing him at all?

A little bit. Most of the time when I've been in something where I've known the writer, usually I feel like I a sort of playing that person, whether they admit it or not. Like when Josh says, "Maybe you shouldn't shave," or "I like this shirt better than that shirt," suddenly you realize more and more through the rehearsal process that you're looking more like Josh. The externals were very Josh-like, but he's not a dismal person like this guy. Josh has a pretty positive view of things, I think, although occasionally not.

Ben's outlook changes when he sees things through the eyes of an immigrant. Do events in your life, like becoming a father, ever give you that sense of fresh perspective?

Yeah, absolutely. I think that everything that happens to you does. I've never been one to think that you should always be positive and look on the bright side constantly. Too much of that, it takes you out of reality. You have to ring a bell if there's a fire -- if something's wrong, you have to face that. There are times in your life that are luckier than other times. It's easy to feel positive and chipper when you've just gotten a good job or just had a baby or whatever it is. Ben's just been through a divorce, his relationship with his daughter has clearly gone off the rails, so he's not in a very good mood.

I also wanted to ask you about John Hughes. When he passed away, I was struck by how many people quoted Ferris Bueller or would post scenes from it on Twitter or Facebook.

Oh really? Huh. That's nice.

Had you kept in touch with him?

Not so much. I did for a little while, and every now and then we would speak on the phone, but I hadn't seen him in twenty years. It was a long time, like everybody -- for most people in show business, at least the ones I know, he pretty much disappeared. It was very upsetting that he died so young. It was nice for me to go and reconnect a bit and talk to his sons and his wife [at the funeral]. You know, his life [after Hollywood] seems like it was very good. Some people think he turned into some hermit, but he didn't really. He was just doing different things -- he was clearly active, and a family man.

Well, there's that presupposition in Hollywood that once you start working there, you have to keep working there constantly until the day you die.

I know! And that if you don't, there must have been some horrible failure. I don't think that's the case with John, I think he got interested in other things. He kept writing -- he apparently has reams of writing -- and he did a lot in his community.

Did you read the New York Times piece that Molly Ringwald wrote about him?

Yes, I did. I thought it was excellent, very heartfelt. I haven't seen her. I used to know her -- I'd love to see her again. I'm glad she did that.

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