“Just listen and be there”: Comedy Legend Will Ferrell Gives Out Heartfelt Advice After a Revelation From His Best Friend
The legendary American actor, comedian, writer, and producer Will Ferrell recently attended the Sundance Film Festival for the world premiere of his upcoming documentary, Will & Harper, which deals with Will Ferrell and his long-term friend Harper Steele’s relationship after Steele came out as transgender in 2022.
Harper Steele is the former writer of Saturday Night Live and has formed a friendship with Ferrell from there. At Sundance, Will Ferrell gave heartfelt advice to his audience about the transgender community, which touched the hearts of many on the internet.
What Did Will Ferrell Say About Harper Steele’s Transition And The Transgender Community?
In a candid chat with Variety at Sundance about the documentary Will & Harper, Will Ferrell remembered how almost three summers ago Steele let the comedian and some other people in their inner circle know about her transition in an email with the subject line “Here’s a Weird One.” He also mentioned that although all of them were “excited” and “supportive,” they were also asking Steele how they could help with the transition period.
“It was three summers ago in which Harper emailed a lot of her close friends with the headline: ‘Here’s a Weird One. She went on to explain she was going to transition and we were all of course excited to hear the news and surprised to hear the news. All of us were extremely supportive and expressed love…but that sort of opened the questions like, how can we help you? What do you need us to do?”
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Ferrell also mentioned how he had “zero knowledge” about the trans community when Harper Steele came out to him. He further mentioned how this documentary will help the cis community to ask questions, educate themselves, and listen and be there to share the journey.
“I had met trans people, but I didn’t have anyone personally in my life. So this was all new territory for me, which is why I think this film is so exciting for us to kind of put out there in the world. It’s a chance all of us in the cis community to be able to ask questions and also just to listen and be there as a friend to discuss this journey.”
The official synopsis of Will & Ferrell says,
“When Will Ferrell finds out his close friend of 30 years is coming out as a trans woman, the two decide to embark on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage of their relationship in an intimate portrait of friendship, transition, and America.”
Will Ferrell is also a co-producer of the film alongside Jessica Elbaum, Rafael Marmor, and Christopher Leggett. Josh Greenbaum directed and also produced the entire thing.
Who Is Harper Steele?
Will Ferrell and Harper Steele have known each other ever since he was a comedian on Saturday Night Live and Steele was a writer on the show between 1995 and 2008. While writing, Harper Steele used her alternative name, Andrew Steele.
According to her IMDb page, Steele has also dabbled as a producer and an additional crew member. Apart from SNL, she has worked on the Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga in 2020. She has also written multiple episodes of many TV series, such as The Spoils of Babylon (2014), Funny or Die Presents…. (2010-2011), The Jon Stewart Show (1993-1995), and The Spoils Before Dying (2015). Some of the TV specials penned by her have been The 2019 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish (2019), The Royal Wedding Live with Cord & Tish! (2018), The Cicada Hunk (2015).
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She has been showered with various accolades in her lifetime, including an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program for SNL (2002) and four Writers Guild of America Awards in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2017.
Will & Harper is looking for distribution outside of the Sundance Film Festival.
