The documentary is poignant, caring, and above all else, extremely funny.
After setting festivals ablaze with fabulous reviews,Will & Harperis now streaming on Netflix.
A Dollar A Day Keeps Will Ferrell Away
That could have beensuperugly.
Image via Sundance
WILL FERRELL: Nothing makes my blood boil more.
You think I’d be flattered by it.
I have an asterisk!
Image via NBC
I know you don’t get paid for the licensing, so here’s a dollar now.
JOSH GREENBAUM: Now hes feeling good!
HARPER STEELE: Normally, its 35 cents.
Image via MGM
Now I want to know if it’s better that I’m wearing the bootleg shirt.
FERRELL: I love it.
I love it so much.
Image via Sundance
STEELE: Well done.
That could have beensuperugly.
FERRELL: Beautiful George Washington.
Image via Netflix
STEELE: He gets violent!
That could have been really ugly.
GREENBAUM: Yeah, it could have been ugly.
In this intimate portrayal of friendship, transition, and America, Will Ferrell and his close friend of thirty years decide to go on a cross-country road trip to explore a new chapter in their relationship.
I’m like, do they know Collider?
It’s never that.
It’s always, Are we now best friends?
or Can we go do karate in the garage?
STEELE: Okay, but are we gonna stop talking aboutWill’scareer?
FERRELL: Its a big career!
Its a pretty big career.
FromEurovisiontoSNL,youname it.
I wanted to say thank you sincerely.
STEELE: Oh, youre welcome.
When you think back on the SNL days, what’s your favorite collaboration?
Is there a sketch for each of you?
Thats a tough one.
FERRELL: I know.
The irony isDid we collaborate that much?
STEELE: We didn’t collaborate that much.
I put Will in everything I could.
FERRELL: You cast me a lot.
STEELE: I cast him a lot, but when we collaborated, we failed.
But the Robert Goulet is a special sketch for me.
It’s wacky, it’s Will, it’s fun.
STEELE: Oh, Bass Off!
I love Bass Off.
FERRELL: between me and Jack Black
STEELE: That was a good one.
There’s a history there.
FERRELL: Harper wrote it, but I gave her the ending.
FERRELL: They’re having a bass off in the warehouse.
Someone says, Do you smell smoke?
Then we cut to a little model of the warehouse, and it was on fire.
STEELE: Typical sketch ending.
I didnt have one.
Will goes, What if we just say you smell smoke?
Then I cut to a small model and blow up the building.
I do not know if you were involved in Mr. Tarkanian?
It was with Pierce Brosnan?
FERRELL: Oh, that was the travel magazine.
Where you were doing cocaine and speed all day.
FERRELL: Yes.No, that was not [Laughs] I killed Chris Parnell with a trident.
STEELE: Oh my God.
GREENBAUM: The status is great.
He is still as sharp and as funny as he ever has been.
So, it’s going well.
Yeah, I love that man.
Jumping into the doc.
As I said at the beginning, this is just fantastic.
What does it mean to you to have put your heart and soul into this?
FERRELL: Its still early.
[Laughs]
STEELE: We’re definitely waiting for the backlash.
It is a movie with a trans person in it.
Let’s give a shot to remember that.
No, I think we were shocked.
We’re sitting there going, Well, it’s okay.
Then it did so much better than what we thought.
FERRELL: We keep talking about this.
That’s a wrap.
I don’t know if anything happened really.
[Laughs] I know we talked a lot.
We talked every day.
We filled six to eight hours of driving every day.
Josh did an amazing job creating this documentary that really feels like you’re watching a movie.
I’m so happy Netflix has this because the whole world gets to see it.
It really is going change somebody’s life with their family.
Can you sort of talk about what that means to all of you?
That this really could make a huge difference to a lot of people.
STEELE: Well, that’s the hope.
Who knows if that’ll be the case, but that is the hope.
So, let’s keep that in mind.
However, yeah, that’s the hope.
But I hope they see that trans people are better than they are.
[Ferrell and Greenbaum laugh]
GREENBAUM: That’s the goal.
STEELE: I don’t know what the goal of the movie is anymore.
STEELE: It is a funny movie.
FERRELL: Its a really funny movie!
STEELE: You say it like, It’s a funny movie?
But that’s how we think about our comedy all the time.
Oh, it worked!
Josh Greenbaum Edited Down 240 Hours of Footage
I wanna talk specifically about the editing.
I’m fascinated by editing, where it all comes together.
What was it like in the editing room?
GREENBAUM: We had 240 hours of footage when we got back.
I was so curious what Kristen Wiig’s song was gonna be.
As I’m watching I’m like, Maybe she didn’t deliver the song.
Then all of a sudden, the song’srealgood.
What was the reaction when you finally heard?
STEELE: We didn’t hear.
We thought she wasn’t gonna deliver, just like that.
FERRELL: Same surprise.
And there it was
FERRELL: He surprised us with it.
STEELE: So beautiful.
Was there anything that you felt was too personal, or maybe you didnt want in?
What was it like with the edit?
Because before it comes out, it can be anything.
STEELE: I think we were both impressed with Josh’s touch.
As a trans woman, I suffer mildly from dysphoria from time to time.
FERRELL: There’s a bunch of big moments in the film.
I’m okay with watching myself go to pieces.
I think that was important for me to see.
It’s important for the audience to see.
Will & Harperis available to stream on Netflix now.
