American actor, comedian, producer, and writer
John William Ferrell (born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, where he performed from 1995 to 2002, and has subsequently starred in comedy films such as Elf (2003), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) Kicking & Screaming (2005), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Semi-Pro (2008), and Land of the Lost (2009). He founded the comedy website Funny or Die in 2007 with his writing partner Adam McKay. Other notable film roles include The Other Guys (2010), The Campaign (2012), Get Hard (2015), Holmes & Watson (2018), and the animated films Curious George (2006) and Megamind (2010).
Ferrell is considered a member of the "Frat Pack", a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors who emerged in the late 1990s and the 2000s, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, Paul Rudd, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson. He received an Emmy Award nomination for his work on Saturday Night Live, and three Golden Globe Award nominations for acting in The Producers (2005) and Stranger than Fiction (2006) and for producing Vice (2018). He was also named the best comedian of 2015 in the British GQ Men of the Year awards. Ferrell received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 24, 2015.
ClothingStressIt's tough for me to get rid of clothes. I grew up in a household with a limited budget and we really had to make our nice clothes last, and so now I'll get free pairs of shoes and this, that and the other and I'll be like, 'Oh great!'; even though it stresses me out that I don't have enough room to put them, I can't throw them away.
NostalgiaWhen I was a kid, 'Land of the Lost' was my favorite show, just because it was - in the landscape of Saturday morning cartoons - it was so unique. It was a live-action show and kids were in it, these creatures, these Sleestaks and dinosaurs. Every week was a different adventure. I couldn't wait. I loved it so much.
CareerComparisonAspirationsWill FerrellI don't really have aspirations to be Tom Hanks.
Entertainment IndustryBusinessI grew up in an entertainment family, and so I saw how susceptible you are to the ups and downs of this business.
I think you can't do any action without in some way paying homage to John Woo. He's the guy who just invented that sort of next level of poetic nasty action.
High SchoolChoicesRegretI still regret that I never played soccer in high school. I chose basketball over soccer.
SuccessArtCreativityMoviesExpectationsYou want every movie to be a hit. But every painting isn’t a masterpiece.
TelevisionNow we have food networks and everything. CNN was the beginning of all of that.
DiversityWell, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.
Will FerrellI would love to play Simon Cowell in a movie - heck, I would love it. It would be my dream role.
ActingAdmirationMy dad turned me onto Peter Sellers as a kid. I loved the fact that he was a unique combination of being extremely subtle and over-the-top all at the same time, and that's a hard thing to do. I admire that.
VulnerabilityBoundariesFriendsYou definitely feel a little exposed, because some of your friends call you like, "Man, I need that much."