Controversial actor Jeffrey Jones has made a rare appearance more than two decades after his involvement in a child pornography scandal.
The 78-year-old, known for “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” participated in a panel at the Hollywood Show alongside some former co-stars, where they reminisced about the beloved 1986 film.
During the discussion, Jones shared that he no longer resides in Los Angeles but didn’t elaborate on why. “I lived in the desert, and I didn’t want to be in LA anymore, but I took my family here,” he explained.
He mentioned he’s now considering getting a place back in LA due to the inconvenience of commuting between Burbank and the desert.
Jones also spoke fondly of working with the renowned director John Hughes, who passed away in 2009. “He really knew how to entertain,” Jones reflected, recalling their collaboration.
Touching on his character Ed Rooney, he recounted a scene where he was trying to get a glimpse into Ferris’s house: “I was just standing on a hose trying to look through the window,” he detailed, explaining how he improvised the scene with some peat moss to create a swampy effect. “It wasn’t a crucial plot point; it was just a detail John appreciated.”
He noted how committed Hughes was to his vision, often insisting on what he wanted, even when it meant wrestling with time and budget constraints.
The panel also included Cindy Pickett, who played Ferris’s mother, and Jonathan Schmock, known for his role in “Kiss Kiss.”
Jones’s career faced a significant downturn after his 2002 arrest for soliciting a minor related to child pornography. He ultimately pleaded no contest to solicitation, which led to the child pornography charges being dropped.
He received a sentence that included five years of probation, psychological counseling, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation, along with a lifelong registration as a sex offender.
Reflecting on his past, he expressed remorse, saying, “I’m sorry you’ve been allowed to happen… No such an event has ever happened before and will never happen again.”
However, in 2004, he faced another arrest for failing to register as a sex offender after moving to Sarasota, Florida, followed by another incident in 2010 upon returning to LA. He pled guilty and was sentenced to community service and probation in those cases.
