97 Fun Facts About Will Ferrell

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

Elf stars Ferrell as Buddy, named by the elves after the brand label on his diaper, who learns as an adult that he is human and heads to New York to find his father.

Who directed Elf?

Jon Favreau directed Elf and also turns up in it as the family doctor who runs the paternity test; five years later he launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man.

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, 40 and still living at home; he, Ferrell and director Adam McKay worked up the story together, having first teamed up on Talladega Nights.

Which fictional event from Step Brothers later became a real annual festival?

The Catalina Wine Mixer was not filmed on Catalina: a clifftop golf club on the mainland stood in for the island, which began holding a real mixer only after the film made the name famous.

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 and Jimmy skate again after a lifetime ban?

They can still compete in pairs: the lifetime ban, handed down after the two rivals came to blows, shuts them out of singles skating only, so the sworn enemies have to team up.

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

The IRS has Harold auditing a tax-dodging baker when he starts hearing a woman narrate his life, and he learns she is a novelist whose heroes 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 brainwashes Derek Zoolander to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia, whose child-labour laws threaten his cheap factories; Ferrell played him again in Zoolander 2.

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?

Lord Business plans to freeze the world with the Kragle, which is really 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?

Iceland, and specifically the town of Husavik, is home to Lars and Sigrit; Ferrell, a Eurovision fan since his wife introduced him to the contest, went to the 2018 contest in Lisbon to research the film.

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?

The Groundlings, the Los Angeles improv theatre that also produced Chris Kattan, took Ferrell on in the early 1990s; a flexible auction-house job, found through future wife Viveca Paulin, let him keep auditioning.

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 was his subject, and his 1990 degree was in sports information, yet an internship in a local station's sports department convinced him he did not want the job.

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

Funny or Die launched in April 2007 with The Landlord, a short in which Ferrell is hounded for rent by a swearing two-year-old landlady, played by McKay's daughter Pearl.

Ferrell reportedly fell out with Adam McKay after losing which Winning Time role to a mutual friend?

Jerry Buss, the Lakers owner, was the part Ferrell had chased since the series was first developed; McKay cast someone else without telling him, and their company closed in 2019.

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

Succession came to HBO through Gary Sanchez Productions, the company Ferrell ran with Adam McKay, so as an executive producer he shared its Outstanding Drama Series Emmys.

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?

Mike Ditka plays himself as the neighbour and sworn enemy of Ferrell's hyper-competitive father, played by Robert Duvall, and takes the coaching job for the chance to beat him.

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

The Razzie for Worst Screen Combo, then still called Worst Screen Couple, went to the pair for a remake in which Ferrell's vain actor insists on an unknown co-star and unknowingly hires a real witch.

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, the top live-action gross of his starring career as of 2025; he plays mild stepdad Brad Whitaker, upstaged when the children's swaggering father reappears.

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?

Raymond Carver wrote 'Why Don't You Dance?', the short story behind the film, in which Nick Halsey loses his job, finds the locks changed and his belongings on the lawn, and decides to live there.

In which comedy does Ferrell make a cameo as Chazz Reinhold?

Wedding Crashers gives Ferrell a late cameo as Chazz, the revered mentor who turns out to live with his mother and to have moved on from weddings to funerals.

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?

Kicker was his spot on the University High School varsity team; in his senior year he and a friend also performed comedy skits over the school intercom, with the principal's blessing.

In March 2015, Ferrell took the field for ten different professional teams in a single day in which sport?

Baseball: he played all ten positions for ten teams across five spring-training games in Arizona, and retired the one batter he faced as a Dodgers pitcher, all 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.

Which 2009 Ferrell remake of a 1970s TV series flopped on a $100 million budget?

Land of the Lost opened to about $19 million and took $69 million worldwide; Universal's own studio chief later said the film was 'just crap'.

What is the name of the dog that Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy sees punted off a bridge in Anchorman?

Baxter survives the fall and comes back at the climax, where he talks an attacking zoo bear into sparing everyone in its pen.

What do Will Ferrell's Brennan and stepbrother Dale name their entertainment company in Step Brothers?

Prestige Worldwide starts as a promotional video shown at a birthday party and ends the film as a small karaoke business the pair really run.

In Talladega Nights, which live animal is put in the car of Will Ferrell's Ricky Bobby to cure his fear?

A cougar is one of the unorthodox methods Ricky's estranged father uses to rebuild his nerve, and the pit crew later paint one on his unsponsored race car.

Which guest host plays Bruce Dickinson opposite Will Ferrell's Gene Frenkle in the More Cowbell sketch?

Christopher Walken said the sketch followed him everywhere for years. Ferrell, who wrote it, reworked the script to fit the actor's rhythm once he was booked to host.

Which fictional detective does Will Ferrell play in a 2018 comedy opposite his Step Brothers co-star?

Sherlock Holmes got the Ferrell treatment in Holmes & Watson, the third film he made with the same screen partner after Talladega Nights and Step Brothers.

Which Hollywood star voices Metro Man, the superhero nemesis of Will Ferrell's blue villain in Megamind?

Brad Pitt's Metro Man turns out to be tired of heroics: he walks away from his superhero life to chase a new career in music.

Which former James Bond plays the father of Will Ferrell's Lars in the Eurovision Song Contest film?

Pierce Brosnan plays the widowed Erick Erickssong, in a cast that also includes Dan Stevens and Demi Lovato, with scenes shot in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Will Ferrell goes by a short form of his middle name; what is the first name he was given at birth?

John is the name on the birth certificate: he was born John William Ferrell in 1967, the son of a teacher and a working musician.

Which actress plays Veronica Corningstone, co-anchor to Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy, in Anchorman?

Christina Applegate's character was modelled on Jessica Savitch, a real local anchor of the era who went on to a prominent role at NBC News.

Which food brand sponsors the No. 26 car of Will Ferrell's Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights?

Wonder Bread's paint scheme became so well known that Kurt Busch raced a copy of it at Talladega in 2013, on a Chevrolet the bread brand sponsored for real.

Which Oscar winner plays Buck Weston, the competitive father of Will Ferrell's Phil, in Kicking & Screaming?

Robert Duvall and Ferrell play a father and son who coach rival boys' soccer teams, each exploiting his own child's side to beat the other.

In Kicking & Screaming, which drink turns Will Ferrell's mild-mannered Phil into an obnoxious soccer coach?

Coffee is new to Phil when his assistant coach introduces him to it, and the habit rapidly makes him as overbearing as the father he is trying to beat.

Which comedian plays Marty Huggins, the challenger to Will Ferrell's Cam Brady, in The Campaign?

Zach Galifianakis's Marty is a small-town tour guide talked into running by two corrupt businessmen, the Motch brothers, who plan to profit from his win.

In The Campaign, Will Ferrell's Cam Brady has run unopposed four times for Congress in which state?

North Carolina's 14th district is his turf, and Cam Brady has been widely characterized as a parody of the state's former senator John Edwards.

Which hybrid car does Will Ferrell's mild-mannered detective drive on duty in The Other Guys?

A Toyota Prius is hardly a pursuit car, so the stunt team used three of them, one fitted with a racing engine so large it had to sit in the back seat.

Which star plays Highsmith, the idolized supercop who overshadows Will Ferrell's detective in The Other Guys?

Samuel L. Jackson's Highsmith exits early: he and his partner Danson fall to their deaths jumping off a building while chasing jewel thieves.

In The House, Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler play parents who open an illegal what to pay college tuition?

Casino nights in a friend's house are the plan after the town scraps the scholarship that was meant to fund their daughter's place at Bucknell University.

In the 2022 musical Spirited, Will Ferrell plays which Dickens ghost opposite Ryan Reynolds?

Christmas Present turns out to have been Ebenezer Scrooge in life: now a ghost nearing retirement, he sets his sights on a man judged unredeemable.

Which actress co-stars with Will Ferrell in You're Cordially Invited, about two double-booked weddings?

Reese Witherspoon plays a TV executive planning her sister's wedding, who finds a widowed father has the same small island inn booked for his daughter's big day.

Will Ferrell voices Maxime Le Mal, a cockroach-themed villain, in the fourth film of which animated franchise?

Despicable Me 4 makes him an old high school rival of Gru who comes seeking revenge, forcing Gru to move his family into a safe house.

In Anchorman 2, Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy joins the first 24-hour news channel in which city?

New York was played on screen by Atlanta, where the sequel was shot, as the story moved on to the dawn of round-the-clock cable news.

In Anchorman 2, Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy rehabilitates which animal, naming him Doby, before freeing him?

A shark named Doby even gets his own song on the soundtrack, sung by Ferrell, and crews built a mock lighthouse to film the scenes.

Which instrument does Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy play in a showy jazz-club solo in Anchorman?

Flute it is, though the solo heard in the film was really played by Katisse Buckingham, a Los Angeles studio musician.

Which actor plays weatherman Brick Tamland alongside Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy in Anchorman?

Steve Carell's Brick finds a kindred spirit in the sequel, falling for an equally eccentric colleague named Chani and marrying her on a beach.

Which Old School co-star of Will Ferrell plays rival anchor Wes Mantooth in Anchorman?

Vince Vaughn's Wes Mantooth leads the main competing news team, and Ron challenges the whole crew to a fight when the two sides meet.

Which actress plays Susan, assistant to Will Ferrell's Ricky Bobby, in Talladega Nights?

Amy Adams's Susan is the one who persuades Ricky to return to NASCAR after his crash, and the two quickly fall for each other.

Which Parks and Recreation star plays Derek, younger brother of Will Ferrell's Brennan, in Step Brothers?

Adam Scott said he was cast unexpectedly as the successful but arrogant Derek, and called the part his first major step into screen comedy.

In Step Brothers, which prized possession does Dale warn Will Ferrell's Brennan never to touch?

His drum set is why the two share a bedroom at all: Dale will not give up the room where he keeps it, and a fight breaks out once Brennan touches it.

Which Napoleon Dynamite star plays figure skater Jimmy MacElroy opposite Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory?

Jon Heder broke his ankle during a skating program for the film, which delayed the shoot.

In Semi-Pro, the team owned by Will Ferrell's Jackie Moon must survive a merger of the NBA and which league?

The ABA is in its final season in the film, and its commissioner announces that only four teams will join the established league while the rest dissolve.

Which castmate played Arianna to Will Ferrell's Craig in Saturday Night Live's Spartan cheerleaders sketches?

Cheri Oteri and Ferrell dreamed up the overeager pair while playing around on an empty Studio 8H stage as newcomers. The joke is that neither student ever made the squad.

Which baseball announcer did Will Ferrell impersonate in Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segments?

Harry Caray was a voice Ferrell loved to imitate in improv classes long before the show, where his version sparred with anchors Norm Macdonald and Colin Quinn.

Which television interviewer did Will Ferrell impersonate on Saturday Night Live, to the real man's delight?

James Lipton, host of Inside the Actors Studio, enjoyed the impersonation and went on to appear as himself in Bewitched, the 2005 comedy starring Ferrell.

Which Clinton-era official did Will Ferrell play as host of a recurring Saturday Night Live dance party?

Janet Reno herself turned up alongside Ferrell's version of her in 2001, for the final installment of the sketch.

In Saturday Night Live's Celebrity Jeopardy, Darrell Hammond needled Will Ferrell's host while playing which film star?

Sean Connery became the regular troublemaker from 1998, and Hammond said his impression drifted from accurate to a distortion that audiences found far funnier.

On which NBC sitcom did Will Ferrell appear for four episodes as temporary boss Deangelo Vickers?

The Office wrote him in as Michael Scott's temporary replacement, the incoming manager on whom everyone scrambles to make a good first impression.

Which Saturday Night Live castmate sang alongside Will Ferrell as fellow music teacher Bobbie Mohan-Culp?

Ana Gasteyer gave Bobbie an operatic voice, and the two brought the Culps back at the show's fiftieth-anniversary concert in 2025 for a medley of recent pop and rap hits.

Will Ferrell plays car salesman Ashley Schaeffer in which HBO comedy starring Danny McBride?

Eastbound & Down was produced by Ferrell's own company, and he came back as the flamboyant dealer when the show reached its third season.

Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig played it straight in A Deadly Adoption, a 2015 thriller parody made for which channel?

Lifetime still aired it in June 2015, even though Ferrell had announced, once the secret project leaked, that he and Wiig were dropping it entirely.

Which Saturday Night Live castmate stars as Mary Katherine Gallagher opposite Will Ferrell in Superstar?

Molly Shannon first created the awkward Catholic schoolgirl as a student at NYU, before joining the show. In the film Ferrell plays both Sky Corrigan, the most popular boy in school, and Jesus.

In the 1999 Watergate comedy Dick, Will Ferrell plays which real Washington Post figure?

Bob Woodward and his reporting partner are portrayed as petty, childish and incompetent, handed their scoop by two 15-year-old girls who are the real secret informants.

Which 2005 Mel Brooks musical brought Will Ferrell a Golden Globe nomination as playwright Franz Liebkind?

The Producers earned four Golden Globe nominations in all, and Ferrell also sings a solo number on its soundtrack.

In which pre-fame job did Will Ferrell tear a baggage rack off a van on only his second day?

Hotel valet did not suit him: he had tried to drive the van under a low beam. He left to try comedy in 1991, encouraged by his mother to pursue something he liked.

Which 1990s Eurodance hit do Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan bob their heads to in A Night at the Roxbury?

What Is Love by Haddaway scored the original sketches too, in which that week's host joined the head-bobbing duo as they were rejected at club after club.

Which Oscar winner plays the literature professor advising Will Ferrell's Harold Crick in Stranger than Fiction?

Dustin Hoffman's Professor Hilbert shares a surname with mathematician David Hilbert, and his list of 23 questions for Harold nods to Hilbert's famous 23 problems.

Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell, was loosely based on a television series from which producing duo?

Sid and Marty Krofft later apologized for the film at a Comic-Con panel, saying they had little involvement despite visiting the set.

Which actress plays Jovie, the deadpan store worker loved by Will Ferrell's Buddy in his 2003 festive hit?

Zooey Deschanel was not the first choice for the part, and her singing was missing from the original script: the director added it once he learned she was a singer.

At which Manhattan department store does Will Ferrell's Buddy meet Jovie and burst into song in Santaland?

Gimbels hosted several of Ferrell's improvised moments, among them Buddy's delighted scream when the manager announces that Santa is coming to the store.

Which former Saturday Night Live head writer takes a 17-day road trip with Will Ferrell in a 2024 documentary?

Harper Steele started at the show the same week as Ferrell in 1995, and the two crossed America together after she told him about her gender transition.

Gary Sanchez Productions, co-founded by Will Ferrell, takes its name from a fictional financier from which country?

Paraguay was the invented homeland of Gary Sanchez, a made-up entrepreneur and financier whose name Ferrell and Adam McKay gave the company they founded in 2006.