Sturgeon recreates Ferris Bueller scene in US tourism drive

Nicola Sturgeon, Alan Cumming and, rear, George Oliphant evoke memories of Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara and Alan Ruck in Ferris Buellers Day Off. Picture: Contributed

A classic scene from cult comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off has been recreated by Nicola Sturgeon and Alan Cumming for a TV show broadcast across the United States.

The US teenage comedy concerns a high school pupil who skips school for the day after tricking his parents into thinking he’s sick.

The Hollywood actor and Scotland’s First Minister struck enigmatic poses in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, along with George Oliphant of US station NBC, for a travel show expected to have been seen by six million 
people.

The TV show, 1st Look, sees the actor and TV presenter take a whistle-stop tour, including exploring Cumming’s roots in Aberfeldy, Perthshire.

At the end of the show, which has just been aired in the US, Ms Sturgeon adopts the role of a tour guide to show off some of the highlights of the gallery – including portraits of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.

Producers of the show, which was launched to coincide with the unveiling of VisitScotland’s first global campaign, dreamt up the idea of replicating the scene from John Hughes’ comedy, in which Matthew Broderick, who plays the errant teenager, ponders a painting in the Art Institute of Chicago with his girlfriend and a pal.

Elsewhere in the gallery, Ms Sturgeon jokes about hoping to avoid the fate of Mary Queen of Scots, who famously had her head chopped off, while the trio are filmed underneath a striking portrait of a semi-naked Cumming with a kilt draped around his neck.

At one point in the gallery, Ms Sturgeon tells a nervous-looking Oliphant: “Relax, you’re among friends. Let me show you some of the famous Scots who have shaped our country.”

Cumming tells Oliphant: “Scotland in general values the arts very highly and I am a product of that. When the National Theatre of Scotland was founded ten years ago, I was so thrilled to come back to Scotland to be a part of it.”

Oliphant said: “Scotland is an assault on your senses and is the kind of ambush you welcome with open arms. It’s easy to see that when you’re in 
Scotland you’re not a tourist. You become part of the people welcoming you.”

The £4.2 million VisitScotland campaign, which is aimed at “harnessing a nation behind tourism,” was launched by Ms Sturgeon at Edinburgh Castle earlier this month.

Malcolm Roughhead, VisitScotland’s chief executive, said: “The USA is a diaspora stronghold and as one of our most important markets for ancestral visitors, we hope this programme will inspire even more visitors to follow in Alan Cumming’s footsteps.”