Making em laugh
Total Film has held court with Will Ferrell on a number of occasions over the years. Here, we’ve compiled the comedy king’s pearls of wisdom on making ‘em laugh. Enjoy…
In person, Ferrell is less pushy, not at all frantic; disappointingly sane. But he soon revs up to performance level, dropping in bizarre vocal tics, imaginary side-characters and, most satisfyingly, making extensive use of really stupid noises to illustrate his points…
You’ve done some supporting roles recently, but this [Talladega Nights] is where you live, right: writing for yourself?
"Definitely. It’s easily the most fun and the clearest way to get my voice out there."
How does it work, co-writing with Adam McKay?
"We start by structuring – crafting something to hold it all up. Then, we just start blurting out random thoughts and ideas – without any rules or fear of judgement.
"So, you might say, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if Bobby’s dad tried to help him conquer his fear of driving by putting a live cougar in the car?’
Yeah! And one of us will go, ‘Oh, that’s funny… get it down!’ And the script evolves from there. We’ll just list bullet points – everything from a joke idea to a character idea to a dramatic arc. We don’t bounce a script back and forth. We just sit there together with the typewriter and write it all out… Oh yeah, that’s our big secret! We use a typewriter, not a computer."
Really? You use a typewriter?
"Nah. I just said that ’cos I noticed I said ‘typewriter’ instead of ‘computer’. Of course we use a computer!"
Ah. You’re not going to talk about how typewriters help you to physically connect with the words, or something...
"Yeah! [ Spiritual voice… ] ‘The typewriter speaks to us! It is our conduit!’ Nah, man. We use a computer like everyone else. We’re not idiots!"
Wheres my script?
And you’re both from an improv background...
"Yeah. So we improvise what the exchanges might be. Then it’s like, ‘Quick! Write it down!’"
On a computer. You don’t use a quill or anything...
"Absolutely not. Always a computer."
When you’re improvising in an acting sense, are there any individual cues you always find yourself dipping into? Little tricks that always seem to work?
"Are you asking me to tell you how to be funny?"
Pretty much, yeah.
"That’s a trade secret! Well, the only rule that we have is, oddly enough, to not worry about being funny, to just sort of stay in the context of the scene. Improvisation is intimidating to actors who’re not used to it. So we’ll say, 'Okay, in the next take we’re all just gonna… see what happens!” And they’re like, “I’m sorry?'"
“Where’s my script!?”
"Yeah! Y’know – ‘Uh? My agent says I’m not allowed to speak without a script!’ But we just say, “It’s fine, don’t worry about being funny...”
“Don’t worry about being really unfunny. No pressure...”"
"Ha ha. Yeah. But with most actors, it does sort of take the pressure off. Generally, though, there isn’t really anything scientific or intellectual about improvising. The way my brain works, I’m always thinking a little bit ahead and specific lines will pop into my head and I’ll be getting ready to say ’em at the right moment.
The cult of celebrity
Talladega Nights is about the cult of celebrity, though, isn’t it? Y’know – sports icons as rock stars...
"Yeah. I’m endlessly fascinated with it. That whole thing about pursuing autographs – as trophies. It seems really creepy. I’ve never done anything like that in my life."
Have you had any run-ins with gossip mags? Do they camp by your house looking for that killer pic of you in your robe?
"No, they don’t care about me. Not in America, at least. But a weird thing happened in London, last year. I was strolling around with my wife and child. We were curious to see if anyone would notice or even care that I was there.
Bear essentials
We've mentioned the scene where Ricky’s dad tries to get him to overcome his fear by driving with a live cougar in the car. Did you work with an animal trainer to become at one with the cougar?
"No. We used CGI. Ha ha. Do you really believe I’m stupid enough to get into a car with a live cougar? I suppose you think that I really fought those bears in Anchorman , too…"
We’ve all seen Grizzly Man...
"Actually, we were there. Those bears were real – not CGI. We were definitely right there, a few feet away from real, live bears."
Jesus.
"Exactly. There was a moment where one of them charged Christina Applegate and I remember saying to Adam, “If we ever work with animals again, let’s not risk our lives.” I’d love to lie to you, but the cougar thing was a camera trick."
The spell’s broken now. We imaged you as a kind of fearless, Siegfried and Roy-type figure...
"Ha ha. ‘The Big-Game Cat Whisperer’…"
Popping the tension
The scene where Amy Adams basically seduces you with her increasingly hysterical enthusiasm... The blokes in the Total Film office found that scene quite... erotic.
"Ha ha ha! So does everyone! What’s so great about that scene is that there wasn’t really that much on the page to start with. Amy shocked everyone by really going for it.
Taking it seriously
When we caught up with Ferrell more recently, the talk initially turned to drama…
Everything Must Go is low-budget indie by a first time director and a very different character for you. What inspired you to get on board?
"The script came my way and I just loved the writing. I wasn’t really familiar with Raymond Carver’s writings but when I read his short stories I liked the script even more.
Optimistic outlook
You’ve said you’re quite an optimistic person. How did you find it playing such a troubled character?
"I’m an optimistic person by nature but I’ve definitely had some sadness in my life; you know, everyone has, so there was stuff to draw upon there. But it was challenging to summon up something that’s very different from who I am."
Did you consciously want to be seen as more of a heavyweight, dramatic actor?
"I think for anyone who does anything creative, it’s human nature to want to do something a bit different. If I don’t get offered any more dramatic roles I’ll be fine, but I think enough people have seen this movie and there have been two or three other projects that have come to me recently."
Anything you can tell us about?
"There’s a project called African Safari Papers and we’re in talks to hopefully do that. It would be myself and Helena Bonham Carter and maybe Daniel Radcliffe and it’s about an eccentric family from Wisconsin who take a trip to Africa on a safari. It’s another great little character thing."
Quote king
Your characters are extremely quotable…
"It’s weird, we don’t set out ever to be quotable. The strangest thing anyone’s ever shouted at me was something from Anchorman . Someone yelled, “Hey Will! I wanna be on you!” In no way did I ever think someone would quote that back to me!"
There’s often a certain softness to the characters you play...
"No matter how ‘mean’ some of the characters could be construed on the surface, there’s always a sweetness to them."
Elf is a prime example.
"That was really the manifestation of being in the mindset of a child. There’s a prime example of how I wasn’t trying to be funny, I was really just imagining I was someone who was raised in the North Pole, which is a place of hope and happiness, walking through a place like New York.
Fully committed
Buddy the elf doesn’t get embarrassed...
"And that was a real test to maintain not being embarrassed. I’m not really embarrassed very easily but all the New York stuff was shot in two weeks and I remember thinking ‘Oh my gosh, I’m running around New York in an elf suit, it could be over. This is either gonna really work or people will be like ‘“Why did he do that movie?”"
Has there been anything you’ve ever had to do that you’ve found was too embarrassing?
"It wasn’t so much embarrassing, there’s just some things – like I recently saw Bewitched and there’s some moments where I’m kissing Nicole Kidman and I’m just like, “Oh, I don’t buy it for a second”.
Saturday Night Live Fever
How was it becoming such a big part of Saturday Night Live yourself?
"It was very surreal. The whole time I was there I couldn’t believe it was happening. It’s something I dreamt about and it actually happened."
Any favourite memories?
"I’ll never forget the first show that I was on. We had 11 new cast members, a brand new writing staff and I was the first actor to say something on the first show for our new group."
What did you say?
"I was playing a news person and it was back when the O.J. Simpson trial was going on and we had some show called ‘O.J. Today’ that just covered the trial incessantly.
The Frat Pack
You were part of what was dubbed the ‘frat pack’, along with Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Steve Carell. Do you all hang out?
"Everyone knows each other and there was a period of time where everyone was jumping in and out of everyone’s movies but it was definitely kind of a media fabrication. We don’t all take a summer trip together. Although we all want that!"
What about the newcomers on the comedy scene? Who’s the next big thing?
"There’s a ton of them. I am a big fan of Danny McBride. Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen are hilarious and really creative and have such a strong voice. Kristen Wiig too. Bridesmaids I thought was such a great triumph for women in comedy."
Creating characters
The Megamind costume you wore to Comic-Con was hilarious. Was that your idea?
"I have to give credit to the DreamWorks publicity people. Well, half credit. They proposed that I come out in costume because Comic-Con is so famous for all the people walking around dressed up, so they made this really slick looking costume.
Dying of laughter
You also launched sketch website Funny Or Die . How’s that going?
"Yeah, I think we’re in our third or fourth year of the site and it’s the most watched comedy website on the web, so it’s doing really well."
Is there anything we can look forward to on the site, sketch-wise?
"Probably, but I wouldn’t know! It kind of runs itself now. We have a whole team of people. Adam [ McKay ] and I check in on it occasionally but we’re not really doing the day to day on it.
