47 Fun Facts About Will Ferrell

In which 2003 film does Will Ferrell play Buddy, a human raised at the North Pole?

Elf (2003) stars Ferrell as Buddy, named after the brand label on his diaper, who only learns he is human at 30 and heads to New York to find his father.

Who directed Elf?

Jon Favreau directed Elf; he later launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man (2008). Elf was made for about $33 million and spawned a Broadway musical in 2010.

Ron Burgundy anchors the news for Channel 4 in which city?

Ron Burgundy anchors KVWN Channel 4 in 1970s San Diego, a city he claims was 'discovered by the Germans in 1904'; his team is Brian Fantana, Champ Kind and Brick Tamland.

Which straight-to-DVD companion film was assembled from Anchorman's outtakes and abandoned subplots?

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie was cut together from unused footage and a dropped bank-robber subplot, and released straight to DVD in December 2004.

What advice does Ricky Bobby's father Reese give him at career day, which Ricky takes to heart?

At career day Reese tells Ricky 'If you ain't first, you're last', a line Ricky lives by until Reese later admits it made no sense and that he was high when he said it.

Which comedian plays Jean Girard, the French Formula One driver who taunts Ricky Bobby?

Sacha Baron Cohen plays Jean Girard, the French Formula One champion who jumps to NASCAR and breaks Ricky's arm when Ricky refuses to say 'I love crepes'.

In Step Brothers, Ferrell's Brennan Huff is forced to live with Dale Doback, played by whom?

John C. Reilly plays Dale Doback, Brennan's 40-year-old stepbrother; the pair had co-starred in Talladega Nights, and Adam Scott plays Brennan's smug younger brother Derek.

Which fictional event from Step Brothers became a real annual gathering on a California island in 2015?

The Catalina Wine Mixer, the event where Derek's helicopter-leasing deal and the film's climax play out, became a real annual festival on Santa Catalina Island starting in 2015.

What was the name of Ferrell's character in Old School, his first starring role after leaving SNL?

Ferrell plays Frank 'The Tank' Ricard, the newlywed whose drunken streaking steals Old School; the film cemented his place in Hollywood's so-called Frat Pack alongside Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson.

In Blades of Glory, what loophole lets Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy skate again after a lifetime ban?

Jon Heder plays MacElroy, and the two were banned for brawling on the podium after tying for gold.

In Stranger than Fiction, Ferrell's Harold Crick works for which agency?

He begins hearing novelist Karen Eiffel narrating his life, and learns her protagonists always die.

Which actress plays Karen Eiffel, the author narrating Harold Crick's life?

Emma Thompson plays Karen Eiffel, the chain-smoking, blocked novelist; Queen Latifah plays Penny, the assistant her publisher sends to help her finish the book.

Who plays hot-tempered detective Terry Hoitz opposite Will Ferrell in The Other Guys?

Mark Wahlberg plays Terry Hoitz, a laughing stock for having shot Derek Jeter during the World Series; he and Ferrell later reunited twice more as feuding dads.

Which fashion mogul does Ferrell play in Zoolander?

Jacobim Mugatu's target has progressive laws on the fashion industry that would harm his businesses; Ferrell reprised the role in Zoolander 2 in 2016.

Which two actors were attached to Megamind's title role before Ferrell?

Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller were each attached before Ferrell; Stiller stayed on as executive producer and voiced Bernard the museum curator, while Brad Pitt voiced Metro Man.

What is the name of the tyrant Ferrell voices in The Lego Movie?

His superweapon, the Kragle, is a tube of Krazy Glue, and Ferrell also appears in live action as the boy's father, 'The Man Upstairs'.

In Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Ferrell and McAdams play singers from which country?

Lars and Sigrit hail from Husavik, Iceland. Ferrell, a Eurovision fan since his wife's family introduced him to it, attended the 2018 and 2019 contests while developing the story with co-writer Harper Steele.

In Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Ferrell plays the chief executive of which company?

Ferrell plays the never-named CEO of Mattel, leading the boardroom of men who chase Barbie back to Barbieland; the 2023 film grossed more than $1.4 billion worldwide.

In the More Cowbell sketch, Ferrell's overzealous cowbell player Gene Frenkle is recording which song?

Gene Frenkle is recording '(Don't Fear) The Reaper' with Blue Oyster Cult, egged on by Christopher Walken's producer Bruce Dickinson, who keeps demanding more cowbell.

Which SNL character, created with Chris Kattan, spawned the film A Night at the Roxbury?

Ferrell plays Steve Butabi and Chris Kattan his brother Doug; the head-bobbing Roxbury Guys danced to Haddaway's 'What Is Love' and were forever rejected by women in clubs.

Which US president was Ferrell's best-known SNL impression, later a one-man Broadway show?

Ferrell's George W. Bush impression became You're Welcome America: A Final Night with George W Bush, which opened at the Cort Theatre in 2009 and earned him a Tony nomination.

Which game-show host did Ferrell impersonate in SNL's recurring Celebrity Jeopardy sketches?

Ferrell's exasperated Alex Trebek anchored Celebrity Jeopardy against Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery and Norm Macdonald's Burt Reynolds; he reprised Trebek when he returned to host in 2005 and 2009.

How many years did Ferrell spend as an SNL cast member?

Seven seasons, from 1995 to 2002. He joined alongside Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri, and by 2001 was the show's highest-paid cast member at $350,000 a season.

Which LA improv troupe did Ferrell join in the early 1990s, launching his comedy career?

Ferrell joined The Groundlings, the Los Angeles improv theatre that also produced Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri; a flexible auction-house job, found through future wife Viveca Paulin, let him keep performing.

Ferrell's father Roy Lee Ferrell Jr. played saxophone and keyboards for which act?

Roy Lee Ferrell Jr. toured with The Righteous Brothers as a saxophonist and keyboard player; the unsteady pay of show business initially put young Will off a career in entertainment.

In which California city was Ferrell born and raised?

Ferrell was born in Irvine in 1967 and grew up there; he has said the master-planned Orange County suburb was so safe and dull that cracking up his friends became his main entertainment.

What did Ferrell study at the University of Southern California?

Sports broadcasting; he was better known on campus for streaking with fraternity brothers and strolling into friends' classes dressed as a janitor.

Which comedy website did Ferrell launch with Adam McKay in 2007?

Funny or Die launched in April 2007; its breakout short The Landlord had Ferrell harassed for rent by McKay's swearing two-year-old daughter Pearl and drew tens of millions of views.

Which casting decision reportedly ended Ferrell's partnership with his longtime collaborator in 2019?

Ferrell wanted the Lakers owner role himself, and the pair closed their company Gary Sanchez Productions.

For producing which HBO drama did Ferrell win Primetime Emmy Awards?

Ferrell executive-produced Succession through Gary Sanchez Productions and shared its Outstanding Drama Series Emmys; he also won for the specials Live in Front of a Studio Audience, and produced Dead to Me and Drunk History.

Which honour for American humor did Ferrell receive in 2011?

Ferrell received the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2011, the year after Tina Fey; he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.

Ferrell is a celebrity part-owner of which Major League Soccer club?

Ferrell is among the celebrity part-owners of Los Angeles FC, which began MLS play in 2018; he has appeared at the club's home matches alongside its live falcon mascot.

In Semi-Pro, Ferrell's Jackie Moon buys the Flint Tropics with profits from which one-hit wonder?

Jackie Moon's lone hit 'Love Me Sexy' bankrolls his purchase of the Flint Tropics, which he owns, coaches and plays for as the ABA prepares to merge with the NBA.

Which NFL coaching legend plays himself helping Ferrell coach a kids' soccer team in Kicking & Screaming?

Robert Duvall plays Ferrell's ultra-competitive father, whose neighbour and hated enemy Ditka is.

Ferrell and Nicole Kidman shared which dubious award for the 2005 film Bewitched?

Ferrell and Kidman shared the 2005 Razzie for Worst Screen Couple, the category later renamed Worst Screen Combo; Ferrell played Jack Wyatt, a narcissistic actor cast as Darrin in Nora Ephron's sitcom remake.

Which film, grossing $242 million worldwide, became Ferrell's biggest live-action hit as a leading man?

Daddy's Home (2015) took about $242 million worldwide. Ferrell plays mild-mannered stepdad Brad Whitaker, competing with the kids' returning biological father, played by his Other Guys partner Mark Wahlberg.

In Get Hard, which comedian's character preps Ferrell's framed hedge-fund manager for prison?

Kevin Hart plays Darnell Lewis, who actually just washes James King's car and has never been to prison himself, but takes $30,000 to toughen Ferrell's character up.

Which Swedish film is Downhill, starring Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a remake of?

Downhill (2020) remakes Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure, the 2014 Swedish drama about a father who flees an avalanche; Kristofer Hivju, from the original, plays a different role in the remake.

Which two actors co-star with Ferrell in the telenovela spoof Casa de mi Padre?

Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal co-star as Armando's brother Raul and the drug lord Onza; the 2012 spoof is performed almost entirely in Spanish with English subtitles.

Everything Must Go, with Will Ferrell as a fired salesman holding a yard sale, is based on a story by whom?

The story is 'Why Don't You Dance?', and Nick Halsey's wife has changed the locks and dumped his belongings on the grass.

Which uncredited character does Ferrell play in Wedding Crashers?

Chazz, the crashing mentor who still lives with his mother, was Ferrell's favour to director David Dobkin, who later made Eurovision with him.

Which Austin Powers henchman did Ferrell play in the first film?

Ferrell plays Mustafa, Dr. Evil's henchman, who is dropped into a fire pit yet keeps yelling that he is alive and 'very badly burned'; he returned in The Spy Who Shagged Me.

In the 2006 animated film Curious George, Ferrell voices which character?

Ferrell voices Ted, the Man with the Yellow Hat, in an origin story of how he and George met on an African expedition; Jack Johnson wrote and performed the songs, including 'Upside Down'.

Which position did Ferrell play on his high school varsity football team in Irvine?

Ferrell was the kicker on the University High School varsity football team in Irvine; he went on to study sports broadcasting at USC before The Groundlings and SNL.

For how many different Cactus League teams did Will Ferrell play in one day of MLB spring training on March 12, 2015?

Ten teams across five games, covering all ten positions including designated hitter; he retired the one batter he faced while pitching for the Dodgers, as a promotion for a charity special.

Will Ferrell's wife Viveca Paulin, whom he met in an acting class in 1995, is an actress from which country?

Sweden; they married in August 2000 and have three sons, and Ferrell has run the Stockholm marathon.

Roughly how much did Land of the Lost take on its 2009 opening weekend?

Land of the Lost opened to about $19 million in June 2009, a weak start for a film that cost around $100 million; Ferrell played Rick Marshall, and The Other Guys followed in 2010.