50 Fun Facts About Will Ferrell

In which 2003 film does Will Ferrell play a human raised by Santa's elves at the North Pole?

Buddy is named after the brand label on his diaper, and only learns he is human at 30.

Who directed Elf?

He went on to launch the MCU with Iron Man; Elf grossed $228.9 million on a $33 million budget and spawned a Broadway musical.

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

KVWN's 1975 news team includes Brian Fantana, Champ Kind and weatherman Brick Tamland; the sequel jumps to GNN, the first 24-hour news network.

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

It came out in December 2004, nine years before Anchorman 2 sent Ron to a 24-hour news network.

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

Ricky was born in the back seat of a speeding Chevelle after Reese missed the hospital turnoff.

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

Ricky's best friend and drafting partner Cal Naughton Jr. is played by his future Step Brothers co-star, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. cameos.

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

Adam Scott plays Brennan's smug brother Derek, and the film's fictional island wine mixer became a real annual event in 2015.

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

The film opened second at the box office in 2008 to mixed reviews before being reappraised as a cult favourite.

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

The New York Times said the film 'belongs to Mr. Ferrell', and Old School put him in Hollywood's so-called Frat Pack.

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?

Marc Forster's film was partly inspired by Jacques Tati's Playtime, and it showed audiences Ferrell could do drama.

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

Hoitz is a laughing stock for having shot Derek Jeter at the World Series; the pair reunited twice more as feuding dads.

Which fashion mogul does Ferrell play in Zoolander?

He brainwashes Derek into assassinating the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Ferrell reprised the role in Zoolander 2 in 2016.

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

Stiller stayed on in the small role of Bernard the curator; Brad Pitt voiced Megamind's nemesis 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?

Ferrell, a self-described Eurovision follower, attended the 2018 and 2019 contests to develop the story with co-writer Harper Steele.

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

The same year he produced and starred in Quiz Lady, and in 2024 made the road-trip documentary Will & Harper.

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

Christopher Walken played producer Bruce Dickinson, and Ferrell later played cowbell with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the same song after his drum-off with Chad Smith.

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

The head-bobbing Butabi brothers 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?

You're Welcome America opened at the Cort Theatre in 2009, broke the house record and earned Ferrell a Tony nomination.

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

He reprised the role in his first two return visits as host, and Inside the Actors Studio's James Lipton reportedly enjoyed Ferrell's take on him.

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

He joined in 1995 with fellow improv alumni 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?

He got a flexible job at an auction house through friend Viveca Paulin, whom he later married, so he could keep auditioning for parts.

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

The unsteady pay of showbusiness initially put young Will off wanting a career in entertainment.

In which California city was Ferrell born and raised?

He said suburban boredom fed his humour: 'I grew up in Mayberry, and the humor broke the boredom.'

What did Ferrell study at the University of Southern California?

He was known for streaking around campus with fraternity brothers and strolling into friends' classes dressed as a janitor.

After college, Ferrell worked as a bank teller for Wells Fargo. How did that go?

He was $280 short the next day too, not stealing but simply careless; he also tore a baggage rack off a van as a hotel valet.

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

Its breakout short The Landlord had Ferrell harassed for rent by McKay's swearing two-year-old daughter Pearl.

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.

Ferrell has a long-running joke feud over their lookalike appearance with which rock drummer?

Their 2014 drum-off on The Tonight Show ended with Ferrell declared the winner and handed a giant gold cowbell despite Smith clearly playing better.

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

He also collected Emmys 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?

British GQ named him comedian of the year in 2015, the same year he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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

He was the club's first honorary falconer, releasing one of its live falcons before a match.

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

He becomes the ABA team's owner, coach, starting power forward and pre-game announcer as the league merges 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 played Jack Wyatt, a narcissistic actor cast as Darrin in a remake of the sitcom, in Nora Ephron's film.

Which 2015 film became Ferrell's highest-grossing live-action movie, taking $242 million worldwide?

He plays a mild-mannered stepdad competing with the returning biological father played by his Other Guys partner.

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

Darnell Lewis actually just washes James King's car and has never been to prison himself.

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

Kristofer Hivju was the only actor from Ruben Östlund's original to appear in the remake.

In which language is Ferrell's 2012 telenovela spoof Casa de mi Padre performed?

He plays rancher Armando Álvarez, and the film runs 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?

He also popped up in Superstar, The Ladies Man and Zoolander during his SNL years.

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

The film is an origin story of how the two met, with songs by Jack Johnson, and it flopped in cinemas before finding a cult following on video.

In a 2014 Grantland poll, Ferrell was voted what?

He is also a member of SNL's Five Timers Club, having hosted the show at least five times since leaving.

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

He went on to study sports broadcasting at USC, and years later coached a kids' soccer team on screen in Kicking & Screaming.

How many teams did Ferrell play for in a single day of MLB spring training on March 12, 2015?

He covered all ten positions, including designated hitter, and retired the one batter he faced while pitching for the Dodgers.

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

They married in August 2000 and have three sons; Ferrell has also run the Stockholm marathon.

Land of the Lost earned how much on its opening weekend, about two-thirds of what the studio expected?

The 2009 flop, in which Ferrell played Rick Marshall, was followed by the far more successful The Other Guys.