Will Ferrell is one of the most popular comedy actors of the last several decades. He’s easily recognizable from his era of films during the 2000s, which includes the buddy comedy Step Brothers, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The Other Guys, Elf and plenty of others. As with many famous film and television actors, Ferrell had humble beginnings.
Will Ferrell’s Early Days
In the early 1990s, Ferrell was playing the role of the starving artist, honing his craft by performing stand-up comedy with little success at Orange County establishments.
After a night on stage, the Curious George actor would tell his mother “Thank God I have a college degree.” Ferrell, who holds a B.A. in sports information from the University of Southern California, did not want to pursue a career in sports broadcasting. Instead, he wanted to be a comedian.
His father, a professional musician, acknowledged his son’s talents and believed luck would play a critical role if Will was ever going to make it in comedy. He advised his son to give his dream a try and assured him that if he found himself stuck in a rut, it was okay to change his career path.
In an Off Camera with Sam Jones interview, Will Ferrell recalls how influential his dad’s words were in paving the way to his eventual success.
“I just approached [comedy] with like, ‘This probably is not going to happen, so I might as well just have a blast.” With no real pressure weighing him down, the film actor playfully performed on stage and the ease with which he carried himself led to more and more opportunities in the world of comedy.
Saturday Night Live Comes Knocking
Ferrell moved to Los Angeles and auditioned for The Groundlings improv troupe. He started in the advanced class but soon won a spot in the highest-level comedic group.
One night, a producer was in the audience, and Ferrell was invited to audition before Saturday Night Live‘s executive producer, Lorne Michaels. Ferrell received a callback, but before it took place, Michaels pulled a rug out from under him. That is, Michaels encouraged the comedian to ditch the material he’d prepared, pushing him to instead come up with something new.
“You’re just alone in a hotel room, talking to yourself, doing characters,” Ferrell said, recalling the stressful night before his callback. “I literally felt like my knees were going to buckle. You’re trying to remember what you’re going to do, you’re just pacing, you’re hearing the person on stage doing their auditions so you’re trying to block that out. Then the doors just open, and they’re like, ‘Well, yeah, come on!’ And it’s like, ‘Okay. I just have to do this now.’”
Ferrell was sure he fell far short of the great SNL talents as he performed an impression of Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray, as well as a white-collar worker who secretly plays with cat toys behind closed doors.
“Here I am lying around with cat toys on the stage where the host of ‘Saturday Night Live’ delivers the monologue every week. I was like, ‘Oh, this is the end.’”
However, the intimidating producers were impressed with Ferrell’s last-minute comedy skits. In 1995, he was invited to become a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Ferrell became one of the top American sketch comedians in the business and would go on to create countless characters and skits during his seven-year sting on the sketch comedy show.
Famous moments during his SNL run include the fictional Blue Oyster Cult member Gene Frenkle, music teacher Marty Culp, cheerleader Craig Buchanan, and nightclubber Steve Butabi. And although Ferrell is not known for political comedy, he also got to show off his impeccable George W. Bush impression several times on the series.
Mr. Ferrell Goes to Hollywood
The iconic late-night show catapulted his career into the stratosphere, as Ferrell starred in a string of comedy films that could not miss.
To start, Ferrell appeared in the Austin Powers films with fellow comedian and SNL alum Mike Myers and Zoolander with Ben Stiller. From there, he moved on to leading film roles like Elf, Old School, the Anchorman films and Step Brothers.
Ferrell’s career has branched into other sectors of the entertainment industry outside of acting. Outside of being one of the top American comedy writers in the business, he’s also been a television producer, a film producer, and an executive producer on HBO’s hit series Succession.
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