Man plans, and God laughs – often we end up laughing too. Especially when someone’s life-plans go so awry that they end up being a world famous actor and comedian. Like Will Ferrell.
You see, Ferrell never wanted to be in show business. As a boy, Will watched as his divorced father, Lee Ferrell, toured with the Righteous Brothers for decades, never able to live a steady life – or be counted on to send Ferrell’s mother child support with any regularity.
“The instability of that life was something I never wanted,” he muses. “I wanted to get a real job, although I didn’t know what that meant. And I wanted to live in a house, because we were always in apartments. I envisioned myself walking with a briefcase.”
Watching Ferrell onscreen, whether he’s dressed as an ecstatic Santa fanatic in Elf, an evil fashion mogul in Zoolander, or a bumbling mustachioed misogynist in Anchorman, it’s impossible to imagine his hyper-expressive, wildly-riffing comedic largesse ever fitting into an office building. In person, however, the 49-year-old is soft-spoken and reserved, wearing an unflashy suit and exuding the quiet seriousness of a firm but fair vice-principal.
His ability to switch from calm and mild-mannered to wild madman perfectly suits The House, the tale of a married couple so desperate to pay for their daughter’s college tuition that they team up with their best friend and start an illegal casino in his basement.
“The idea combined a lot of things I love,” the actor remarks. “Whether you sincerely enjoy Vegas, or love to hate it and make fun of it, think about bringing all that energy and the potential for bad decisions into a small-town setting, where people are looking for a reason to cut loose and let their hair down.”
The film also touches on the incredibly harsh reality facing students in America, who often emerge from college with loans of hundreds of thousands of dollars hanging over them. The actor has three sons under ten, and reveals he already has college funds set up for each of them.
“It’s getting so expensive, I hope it’s enough,” he says seriously, sounding for all the world like any other father, and not a comedian with a net worth of $100 million.
Though maybe his gravity springs from the fact that his own student debt followed him well into his career. After taking a BA in Sports Information and Broadcasting, it wasn’t until Ferrell became a famous sketch comedian that he was able to pay them off.
“I had a lot of student debt,” he reflects. “I was writing cheques for $50 a month which was barely covering the interest. But then I got a job with Saturday Night Live and was able to write the final cheque, which was such a relief.”
It was during Ferrell’s stint on SNL that he became known for his bumbling, lip-licking impression of George W. Bush. Despite the wealth of comic political material being provided by President Trump, Ferrell admits he doesn’t miss being on SNL.
“Obviously I loved my time on the show and I’m really thankful for it,” he says. “But it really is both the best and hardest job you will ever do. You get into shape to do SNL, it’s like being an athlete. You don’t consciously notice it at the time, the hours you put in, the way your brain is always on, always coming up with ideas. And now, when you’re dealing with a person like the President – if you pitched the things he says and tweets, people would literally give you notes saying, ‘It’s too much, no-one would ever say this!’ So how do you top a person like that, who is literally more absurd than the comedians?”
In addition to The House, Ferrell has also just wrapped filming on Holmes And Watson.
“John C. Reilly and myself play the titular duo,” he notes. “We have an incredible cast of really posh actors like Ralph Fiennes – and then us. Stuck in the middle, lowering the tone.”
Interestingly, Ferrell says he hopes to take on more roles in dramedies as he enters his fifties, recalling how much he enjoyed playing the straight man in the quirky 2006 tale Stranger Than Fiction.
“I had a great time making that movie,” he enthuses. “It’s one of my favourite things I’ve ever gotten to do. I’m always up for doing stuff in that vein. It’s easier said than done, because no matter how high you are on the food chain, there are still obstacles. People still put you in boxes and categories so it’s hard to be considered for those types of projects, but I’m very open to playing more serious roles.”
Casting agents, I can confirm: Will Ferrell is far more serious than any of us thought.