EP. 160 — An Interview with Will Ferrell 

Jenna [00:00:03] I’m Jenna Fischer. 

Angela [00:00:04] And I’m Angela Kinsey. 

Jenna [00:00:06] We were on The Office together. 

Angela [00:00:07] And we’re best friends. 

Jenna [00:00:08] And now we’re doing the ultimate Office rewatch podcast just for you. 

Angela [00:00:12] Each week, we will break down an episode of The Office and give exclusive behind the scenes stories that only two people who were there can tell you. 

Jenna [00:00:19] We’re the Office Ladies. Hello! 

Angela [00:00:23] Hi, lady. How are ya? 

Jenna [00:00:27] I’m very excited. 

Angela [00:00:28] Well, I’m excited. Before we get to it, you’re having a super cute hair day. 

Jenna [00:00:32] Oh, my gosh, lady, I got my hair cut and I got it colored. And so it’s, like, very fresh. 

Angela [00:00:39] You look sassy and fresh.  

Jenna [00:00:41] Well, it’s good timing, too, because we have a special guest today. 

Angela [00:00:44] We do. You guys- 

Jenna [00:00:46] You gave me a compliment. Can I give you a compliment? 

Angela [00:00:48] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:00:48] I love your sweater. I said it when you walked in and you said it was. 

Angela [00:00:52] It’s like six years old. 

Jenna [00:00:53] It’s so cute. 

Angela [00:00:54] Because I can’t take a compliment. You’re like, I like your sweater. And I was like, It’s really old. 

Jenna [00:00:59] Well, the point is, we look really stinkin cute today. And it’s a good thing because someone’s here. 

Angela [00:01:06] Yeah, we zjoozjed up because we have a guest. Here today is Will Ferrell. 

Jenna [00:01:13] Woo! 

Angela [00:01:14] Woo-hoo! Otherwise known as Deangelo Vickers. We thought we would do a little, I don’t know, summary of Will Ferrell. But come on, you guys all know him. He was on Saturday Night Live for so many years. He was amazing. He got an Emmy nomination for being on SNL. 

Jenna [00:01:27] You know, he’s also been in a gazillion movies. I was in a movie with him, Blades of Glory. He’s also been in Elf, Anchorman, Kicking and Screaming, Talladega Nights, Semi-Pro, Step Brothers, and he received Golden Globe nominations for his roles in The Producers and Stranger Than Fiction and for producing Vice. 

Angela [00:01:47] Also, he has done so many voiceovers. If you guys like the Lego movies, like my kids, then you know, he was Lord Business and he was hilarious. He might be the funniest person on the planet, Jenna. He might be one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. 

Jenna [00:02:01] This is true. 

Angela [00:02:02] Mm hmm. 

Jenna [00:02:03] We got to spend over an hour chatting with him. We talked about his time on The Office, but we also just talked about life and. 

Angela [00:02:10] All kinds of things. 

Jenna [00:02:11] All kinds of things. It was really fun. He’s just, oh, my gosh. He’s everything I remembered him to be when we worked with him. 

Angela [00:02:19] So nice, so funny, but just a charming human to be around. 

Jenna [00:02:25] Well, before we get to that interview, we do have a little announcement. Little Office Ladies business. 

Angela [00:02:31] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:02:32] We are taking the next two weeks off. 

Angela [00:02:35] That’s right. We have our kids’ spring break. 

Jenna [00:02:37] And I’m doing a movie! 

Angela [00:02:41] Drumroll! Jenna’s doing a movie! 

Jenna [00:02:43] Yes, I am doing The Mean Girls movie musical for Paramount Plus written by Tina Fey. 

Angela [00:02:51] I can’t wait to see it. It’s going to be so great. You said Tim Meadows is back? 

Jenna [00:02:55] Yes! Tim Meadows is in it. And, you know, I did Walk Hard with Tim Meadows, so I’m so excited. 

Angela [00:03:01] And he was on The Office. We love him. 

Jenna [00:03:03] I play Mrs. Heron. I play Cady’s mom. I have shot one day on the movie so far, but now I have to go back to do the bulk of my work over these next couple of weeks. I mean, just based on the one day I’ve done so far, I could not be more excited. So sorry, guys, but we have to hit pause on the podcast. But we’ll be back in two weeks. 

Angela [00:04:01] Two weeks. 

Jenna [00:04:02] All right. We’re going to take a break and then we’ll be back with Will Ferrell! 

Angela [00:04:05] Woo hoo! Yayyy!

Jenna [00:04:13] Welcome, Will Ferrell! 

Angela [00:04:15] Yay, Will’s here!  

Will Ferrell [00:04:16] I love the theme song. 

Angela [00:04:18] Thank you. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:19] Wait, you’re best friends? 

Angela [00:04:21] Yes. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:23] Did that- was that pre the show or during the show? 

Jenna [00:04:27] During the show. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:28] You guys became friends on the show? 

Both [00:04:30] Yes. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:31] Wow. 

Angela [00:04:32] We became besties. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:34] And maybe one o,f if not the greatest takeaway of doing the show in a weird way, right? 

Jenna [00:04:39] 100%. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:40] Hundred percent. 

Angela [00:04:40] That’s what Steve said. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:41] Yeah. 

Angela [00:04:41] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:42] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:04:42] Do you have a best friend, Will? 

Will Ferrell [00:04:45] From The Office? 

Both [00:04:46] Sure. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:47] That I made?

Jenna [00:04:48] That’s the only context we can speak of. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:51] It’s only Office specific. 

Angela [00:04:51] In those four episodes. 

Jenna [00:04:53] Who is your best friend from those four episodes? You can say Steve. You knew him before. 

Will Ferrell [00:04:58] Yeah, I guess I’ll say Steve. 

Jenna [00:04:59] Okay. 

Angela [00:05:00] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:00] Since I knew him before. 

Angela [00:05:01] Okay. Not Creed. You and Creed aren’t hanging out? 

Will Ferrell [00:05:04] I didn’t talk to Creed that much. 

Jenna [00:05:07] No. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:07] I didn’t talk to any I- it was an interesting time. 

Jenna [00:05:12] Oh? This sounds like it’s going to be a whole thing-. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:14] It was an interesting time. Well, anyway. 

Angela [00:05:17] We’ll get there. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:17] Yeah, we’ll get there. 

Angela [00:05:18] I bet we have some questions that crack that open. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:20] Yeah. 

Angela [00:05:21] Okay. Best friend in real life. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:23] Best friend in real life. Um. 

Jenna [00:05:26] You can say their first name only if you don’t want to alienate all the other friends. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:33] I’m going to say the initial J. 

Angela [00:05:38] J’s been there for you through thick and thin. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:41] Thick and thin. 

Angela [00:05:42] All right, well, here we go. In preparing for this interview, Jenna and I were Googling. We were looking you up on the Internet. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:49] Okay. 

Angela [00:05:50] I stumbled across something on your Wikipedia page that really cracked me up. I have to read it to you. 

Will Ferrell [00:05:56] Let’s see if it’s- if it- if it holds muster. 

Angela [00:05:59] Right. Okay. They list all the types of acting genres that you are featured in. 

Will Ferrell [00:06:05] Okay. 

Angela [00:06:05] Ready? Here are the genres: improvizational comedy, sketch comedy, physical comedy, character comedy, cringe comedy, political satire, surreal humor, anti humor, and deadpan. 

Will Ferrell [00:06:23] Wow. Does that like- 

Jenna [00:06:26] Those are all the things- 

Will Ferrell [00:06:26] That’s the whole spectrum. 

Jenna [00:06:28] You can do. 

Will Ferrell [00:06:29] In comedy in a weird way. I love cringe. 

Angela [00:06:32] Cringe comedy. 

Will Ferrell [00:06:33] And that I’m I’m in anti comedy. 

Angela [00:06:35] Yes. 

Jenna [00:06:36] That’s the one I didn’t understand. What is anti humor? 

Angela [00:06:40] I mean. 

Jenna [00:06:41] Is that not drama? It’s a type of humor. 

Will Ferrell [00:06:44] I guess? Or is it something that’s actually really funny that that person thought was not funny and described it as anti comedy? 

Jenna [00:06:55] I don’t know. This one- 

Angela [00:06:56] I don’t know. I couldn’t tell if they were-

Will Ferrell [00:06:58] I’ve never heard that ca-

Angela [00:07:00] Yeah. I couldn’t tell if they were praising you or throwing shade at you…

Will Ferrell [00:07:02] I love that it’s on my Wikipedia page, which I obviously don’t curate at all, but I’m going to now start telling people that’s my specialty, anti-comedy. 

Angela [00:07:10] Anti-humor. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:12] Look on Wikipedia. 

Angela [00:07:13] Some people think it’s-. 

Jenna [00:07:15] It’s there. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:16] It’s there. It’s a real thing.

Angela [00:07:15] Some people think it’s deadpan. No, no, no. It’s anti-humor. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:18] No, it’s anti-comedy. Anti-humor. 

Angela [00:07:20] This is anti-humor. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:21] Anti-humor.  

Jenna [00:07:21] Will, before we get started, I did want to introduce myself to you. Uh, Jenna Fischer. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:27] Right. Yes.

Jenna [00:07:27] We did Blaze of Glory together. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:30] Yes. 

Jenna [00:07:30] We did The Office. 

Will Ferrell [00:07:31] Yes. 

Jenna [00:07:32] This is a little inside joke because I told a story on the podcast, I’m sure you don’t remember, but early on in knowing you, every time I would run into you after we did Blades of Glory, I would say, Will, hey, Jenna Fischer? We did Blades of Glory. And at one event you finally you took me by the hand. You said, Jenna, I know who you are. I do. I know you.

Angela [00:07:57] You don’t need to introduce me every time.  

Will Ferrell [00:08:00] Oh no. I don’t remember. 

Jenna [00:08:00] I was like. I was like, Okay, well, you’ve worked with so many people. You’ve done so many things. I just thought maybe I would help you recall me if needed. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:09] Right. 

Jenna [00:08:10] And it was really a sweet moment. You’re like, you don’t ever have to do this. 

Angela [00:08:14] So I told her. I told her when you showed up today, I was like, You have to introduce yourself. 

Jenna [00:08:18] You have to introduce yourself again. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:20] Was there something else we worked on too? Or were those are the two main things? 

Jenna [00:08:24] You know, it’s so funny. I felt like there was. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:26] I felt like there was, too. 

Jenna [00:08:27] But in Googling us, I couldn’t find it. What else have we done? 

Will Ferrell [00:08:31] I thought there was something before Blades. 

Angela [00:08:34] Were you in Step Brothers? 

Jenna [00:08:35] No. But I was in that movie with Will Arnett and Will Forte, The Brothers Solomon. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:42] Oh, Brothers Solomon. I wasn’t in that. 

Jenna [00:08:43] But you weren’t in that. 

Angela [00:08:44] No. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:45] No. 

Jenna [00:08:45] I know. I went through my list of things. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:49] They weren’t looking for anti humor. 

Jenna [00:08:50] I guess not. 

Angela [00:08:52] No. So you didn’t get the job. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:54] The phone didn’t ring. 

Jenna [00:08:54] Not for that one. 

Will Ferrell [00:08:55] Not for that one, no. 

Angela [00:08:57] Here is a question we ask all of our guests. How did you get your job on The Office? 

Will Ferrell [00:09:02] I got my job on The Office… I had called up my peeps. My representation. No, I’d just thrown it out that I knew it was Steve’s last year, and I just said, God, I would love to do something in that last season. I was thinking it’d be just a cameo or whatever. I was up for anything. And my agent called me back and said, Oh, yeah, they’re thrilled. In fact, they want to know, Greg was like, Would you actually want to do a whole arc? Like four shows? And I thought, yeah, why not? That’d be great. But that’s what I was alluding to when I didn’t talk to many people on the set, because those last shows were emotionally charged and you guys were all having a moment. I’m like, What am I doing here? I shouldn’t be here. I was always like, Oh, my God, everyone’s here’s another read through. Everyone’s going to cry. And I was like, I was invited to the party and I wasn’t- someone realized way after the fact, Will shouldn’t be here. And while I had a great time and it was so fun to, you know, be a part of your guys thing, there was a big part of me was like, I just really felt like an outsider. To no one’s fault, but it was like, as you guys know, this end of an era and it was just-. 

Jenna [00:10:34] We were all just in our feelings. 

Will Ferrell [00:10:35] Oh, yeah. And, and you should have. And so that’s, that’s where I was like, I didn’t talk to a lot of people because I didn’t feel like. 

Angela [00:10:43] You were like, I’m just going to stay out of the way. 

Will Ferrell [00:10:44] I’m just gonna stay out of the way because you guys are all having private moments. And it was almost, you know, it was like, sign my yearbook. End of year, make sure, you know… 

Angela [00:10:54] So I have such a distinct memory when we were doing Michael’s Last Dundies. 

Will Ferrell [00:10:59] Yes. 

Angela [00:10:59] My character gets the award for kind of a bitch. And I had to go up there. And while we were doing the scene, they sort of we had a moment where we took a lighting break or something and I was standing next to you and I just said to you, How’s it going? And you said, you said, It’s great, it’s great. I kind of feel like I’m doing comedy bits at a funeral sometimes. And I was like, Yeah, yeah. But I’ll never forget. I was like, Oh, this has got to be so hard. It’s got to be so hard to come in and try to be like the new funny guy. And we’re all just like. 

Will Ferrell [00:11:34] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:11:35] We had a really fun fan question. This question from Joanna S, Did anyone advise you not to take this role? 

Will Ferrell [00:11:46] Oh, Joanna. No. No one. But I that makes me laugh, the image of a lot of people calling me going, Be careful. Don’t do it. 

Jenna [00:11:58] Don’t do it. 

Will Ferrell [00:11:58] Hey. 

Angela [00:11:59] You might want to…. 

Will Ferrell [00:11:59] Can we talk? You might want to. 

Angela [00:12:04] Although you might be great at it because there might be some anti humor. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:07] Yeah. No, no one. No one advised me not to take the role, which, you know, previously to what we were talking about, it was so fun to be there, too. You know, It was great to watch you guys all work and be a part of that as well. But but it was really surreal. Yeah. 

Jenna [00:12:27] From our perspective, you folded into the show so naturally. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:32] Oh good. Good, good, good. 

Jenna [00:12:32] So easily. And you were there that one episode after Steve had left. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:38] Yes. 

Jenna [00:12:39] You stayed for one more. And oh, my gosh, We were so happy to have you there. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:44] Just as a little bit of a bridge. 

Angela [00:12:46] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:47] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:12:47] Yeah. And your energy is similar to Steve’s. You guys are both so nice. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:52] Right. 

Jenna [00:12:52] And just your kindness and your humor. We were like, Okay, good. 

Will Ferrell [00:12:59] But singing the Rent song in the, you know, and Steve losing it. I was like, if there was a camera on me, I’d be like, Oh, he’s not acting. Oh, he’s, oh oh. 

Angela [00:13:09] That deer in headlights is real. 

Will Ferrell [00:13:11] I was like, Oh, my God. Okay. Yeah, right. Of course. Oh, now I get the scene. But that was really that was so sweet and powerful. And all of your-

Angela [00:13:22] And yeah, we were all crying. We were all looking at you because you were standing in the front of the room with Steve, and we were all looking at you crying. 

Jenna [00:13:30] I am just now in this moment, like putting myself in your shoes and imagining what it must have been like for you to stand there. And Steve is crying next to you. We’re all crying, and you’re just like, heyy. 

Will Ferrell [00:13:41] Yes. And then as Deangelo Vickers, who has no emotional attachment. Then the more more takes we did, then I started it started getting to me, too. 

Angela [00:13:51] Right. And you’re like, Deangelo can’t cry here.  

Will Ferrell [00:13:54] Deangelo can’t cry here. He doesn’t. He doesn’t have anything invested. 

Jenna [00:13:58] Here’s another fan question. This is from Shell F. Had you watched the show before you came on? 

Will Ferrell [00:14:05] Yes, I had watched the show many a time, and yeah, I was a fan like everyone else and just loved, you know, all the stuff everyone was doing and all the the writing and the cast. And just as you guys know, kind of a perfect storm of all those things put together, which is why the combination of that and knowing Steve, but all of those things were the reason why I called up. I was like, gosh, what they would, they fit me in? And you guys did. 

Angela [00:14:36] And you got to go play with one of your best friends. 

Will Ferrell [00:14:38] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. And that was so fun too, revisiting the episodes. I had totally forgotten that first. 

Angela [00:14:50] The first meeting between Michael and Deangelo? 

Will Ferrell [00:14:53] Where we’re at the bar and each other and we don’t realize it. And it was like I was watching them all for the first time. It was just so fun to see how well-constructed that was and just, yeah, so stupid, right? 

Jenna [00:15:06] Yeah. 

Angela [00:15:06] Yeah. Okay. This is actually a great time for me to share this with you. I saw online a list of fan favorite quotes from Deangelo. 

Will Ferrell [00:15:14] Okay. 

Angela [00:15:14] Here are some really good ones. Top of the list: Colorado, the Sunshine State. 

Will Ferrell [00:15:19] Yes. 

Angela [00:15:20] That baby could be the star of a show called Babies I Don’t Care About. Everyone I know who skis is dead. I never touched another juggler’s instruments. And then, Is there an animal shelter on the way? Annie annie shelto. 

Will Ferrell [00:15:35] You know what’s really fun about having done those four shows is the gift that keeps on giving, which is that, you know, Greg and Paul obviously thought of that bit of the juggling without my juggling apparatus. 

Jenna [00:15:53] We got more mail about that scene. 

Angela [00:15:55] Oh, my gosh. 

Jenna [00:15:56] People want to hear everything you have to say about the juggling. 

Will Ferrell [00:16:00] But I remember thinking, how, how and why did you guys think of it this way? I forget what the reason was, but that was just such a genius, weirdo thing that he still wants to show off his juggling. 

Jenna [00:16:14] Yes. 

Angela [00:16:14] Yeah, he had his boombox. 

Jenna [00:16:15] Without any juggling. 

Will Ferrell [00:16:16] Yes. And I have now done that bit on stage, no less than 20 times. 

Jenna [00:16:24] Really? 

Will Ferrell [00:16:25] Because it’s like a go to because, you know people will have like a little charity show or this and that where it’s like, would you come do a five minute thing of whatever you want to do. It’s like readymade. It’s perfect. So I’ll come out and I’ll say, just introduce me as so-and-so and that I’m a juggler who’s worked for 20 years down at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco or something. So I come out, I do the whole thing of like, I’m so sorry I left- I have a little case I’ll open up. There’ll be nothing in there. 

Jenna [00:16:58] Oh my gosh, what’s happened to them? 

Will Ferrell [00:16:59] Oh, my God, I’m so embarrassed. All my juggling balls, I left them in my other case. I don’t know what to do. And then coax the audience like, unless I could just do my act without them. And then everyone applauds. And I do the whole thing. 

Angela [00:17:12] Do you do the balls invisibly on someone’s head? 

Will Ferrell [00:17:15] Yes. I’ll pull someone out of the audience. 

Jenna [00:17:17] I love that. 

Will Ferrell [00:17:18] And then I’ll do that. 

Jenna [00:17:19] I believe that defies, like physics and gravity. It’s not a possible move. 

Will Ferrell [00:17:24] And I whisper to them, like, stay as still as you can. And people will be take it really seriously. And they’ll sit in the chair and they won’t blink. And I’ll just throw the balls off their head. And I play the same Evanescence song. I do the whole thing. Anyway. 

Jenna [00:17:42] That is amazing. 

Will Ferrell [00:17:43] It’s the gift that keeps on giving. 

Jenna [00:17:44] One of- my favorite part of it is at the end, when you- it lands on the back of your neck. 

Angela [00:17:49] Yes. Yeah. 

Jenna [00:17:50] You’re going to catch it there. 

Angela [00:17:52] And Kevin, Kevin’s like, Didn’t drop a single ball. 

Will Ferrell [00:17:55] Right. So that that was a highlight for sure. For me. But also to just have to force you guys to watch it all for how many takes that I- I don’t know. 

Angela [00:18:08] I saw myself breaking in so many takes with you. So many I would see. And also not just me, but you would see shoulders like the shoulders are the dead giveaway. And we were cracking up. And then I just wanted to know, and we had people write in, have you ever juggled? Do you know anything about juggling? 

Will Ferrell [00:18:24] No. And I still can’t juggle to this day. 

Angela [00:18:27] You can’t? 

Jenna [00:18:27] You’re such a good fake juggler. 

Will Ferrell [00:18:29] Didn’t give me. Well, it didn’t, like, spur me on to, like, maybe I should really try juggling, like, and just pretend like I’m faking it pretty well. I still can’t do it. I still haven’t tried and I still can’t do it. 

Angela [00:18:41] Oh, you know what? We have talked about this. Your character has such a great way that he introduces himself to everyone in the bullpen, and we really wanted you to hear it. And then Jenna’s going to share with you a second part that didn’t make it in that we found in the shooting draft. 

Will Ferrell [00:18:57] Okay. 

Michael Scott [00:18:58] Presenting Deangelo Vickers! 

Deangelo [00:19:04] Hi! Hello! 

Michael Scott [00:19:05] Come on out! 

Deangelo [00:19:05] Hello. Hey. How are you, sir?

Michael Scott [00:19:13] I’m well, sir. How are you? 

Deangelo [00:19:15] Can I just say I am, I am so excited to be working here. A little bit about myself. I love the American Southwest, for starters. You may call them Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah. I call them heaven. I have a peanut allergy. Something I live with. It’s a part of me. I’ve learned to cope with it. What else? I’m just as comfortable at a ballgame as I am at the opera. 

Jenna [00:19:41] And there was this line where you would have said, I’ve never ridden a motorcycle. I’ve had chances, it just doesn’t interest me. And I love the idea that in introducing yourself to someone, you include something that does not interest you. 

Angela [00:19:55] To a group of strangers.

Jenna [00:19:58] Like, here’s some stuff about me. Little get to know you. But one thing you need to know, motorcycles do not interest me. So we were wondering if you had to introduce yourself in the Deangelo Vickers style, what might you, what might you include as your noninterest? Angela’s is like hard core exercise. 

Angela [00:20:15] Yeah, like if I met a group of people I’d never met before, I might say, Hi. My name is Angela. I grew up overseas. I like hummingbirds. I am not interested in anyone yelling at me when I exercise. 

Will Ferrell [00:20:28] Oh, okay. Yeah. I would probably say, Hi. I’m Will. I’m from Orange County. I do enjoy vigorous exercise, but I have no interest in skydiving. 

Jenna [00:20:41] Mm. 

Angela [00:20:42] Don’t talk to me about skydiving. 

Will Ferrell [00:20:44] Did you do it?

Angela [00:20:46] No. 

Jenna [00:20:47] I’ve never done it. 

Angela [00:20:47] No, No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to do it. 

Will Ferrell [00:20:50] No, I don’t. 

Angela [00:20:50] Yeah. No. 

Jenna [00:20:51] So if you were offered a film or a project. 

Will Ferrell [00:20:54] Right, that. 

Jenna [00:20:55] That involved a skydiving moment, you would say hard pass. That’s going to be a stunt person. 

Will Ferrell [00:21:01] That’s going to definitely be a stunt person. 

Jenna [00:21:02] You’re going to need to find someone that looks just like me. And have them fall from the sky because I’m not doing it. 

Will Ferrell [00:21:07] Yeah. Because even if I really got talked into it, because I don’t know if you- have you guys had things where you’re like, at first you’re like, No way. Hard pass. And then, It’s really safe, we’ll do it this way and da da da and you’re like, Okay, I can’t, I don’t know if I could look Vivica in the eye and be like, I’m just, honey, I’m going to do this skydiving thing. It’s going to be totally cool. 

Angela [00:21:32] Your wife would be like, no. 

Will Ferrell [00:21:33] Yeah, Yeah. She’s going to be like, Really? Is it that essential? And I’m like, you’re right. They can get someone else. 

Jenna [00:21:40] But you have done a lot of stuff. 

Will Ferrell [00:21:42] I’ve done a lot of things that later I was like, Why did I? Yeah, like, I did it. I did a- I was out in the wilderness with Bear Grylls on the Bear Grylls show, and I was hanging from a helicopter. 

Angela [00:21:54] I saw that. 

Will Ferrell [00:21:54] Twice. 

Angela [00:21:55] I saw that. 

Will Ferrell [00:21:57] And later I was like, I thought, I didn’t need to do that. But I got wrapped up in trying to get Bear Grylls to like me. 

Jenna [00:22:05] Wow. I just watched the movie Downhill because I have recently become sort of a skiing fanatic. I just started skiing in my life during the pandemic. I’m slightly obsessed. I’m leaving today after this interview to go to Utah to ski. 

Angela [00:22:26] This is so wild to me. 

Will Ferrell [00:22:26] Amazing. So this is- you’re taking it on right now in life. Wow. 

Jenna [00:22:31] Yes. I learned how to ski, put skis on my legs for the first time when I was 46. And I’m turning 49 this year. 

Will Ferrell [00:22:38] Because most people learn at an early age. 

Jenna [00:22:42] Yes. I grew up in Missouri. No skiing there. 

Will Ferrell [00:22:45] Not even one? Like, not even like a little bunny hill? 

Jenna [00:22:48] You know what? I should say, there is a place where you can ski. But I mean… Come on. It’s not-

Will Ferrell [00:22:54] Right. Come on. Let’s be honest. 

Jenna [00:22:56] It’s not really. 

Will Ferrell [00:22:58] Yeah. No.

Jenna [00:22:58] Skiing. 

Will Ferrell [00:22:59] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:23:00] I watched Downhill. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:02] Right. 

Jenna [00:23:03] Are you skiing? Is that you? 

Will Ferrell [00:23:04] I’m ski- yeah. 

Jenna [00:23:06] You’re so good. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:07] I’m not skiing the- where I fall and do the fall. 

Jenna [00:23:10] Right, right. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:11] There’s a fall part, right? Tumbling fall.

Jenna [00:23:12] Yeah. Are we cutting to you at the end when you’re already on the ground? That part? 

Will Ferrell [00:23:17] Where I hit my head on the thing, ohhhh. 

Jenna [00:23:17] Yes, yes, on the thing. Yeah. Right.

Will Ferrell [00:23:20] That was me acting after I hit my head. Ohhh…

Jenna [00:23:22] Yes. It was very good. 

Angela [00:23:23] I’m going to add that to your Wikipedia paragraph. 

Jenna [00:23:27] Injury comedy. 

Angela [00:23:28] Injury comedy. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:30] Injury comedy. Which is, again, under the category of anti humor. 

Jenna [00:23:36] It is. I think that falls in there. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:38] Yeah, but no, all that other skiing. 

Jenna [00:23:40] Is you. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:41] That’s me. But Julia Louis-Dreyfus, she’s an excellent skier. 

Jenna [00:23:45] She was very good in the film as well. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:46] She can do the moguls and everything like that. I can’t quite do the moguls. 

Jenna [00:23:49] No? Okay. 

Will Ferrell [00:23:50] So the movie you’re referring to, we shot in Austria, and that’s a whole nother kind of- how do you describe it? Let’s just say the Austrians are not afraid to cut in line. Or woosh right in front of you. You really have to be. 

Angela [00:24:08] Aggressive? 

Jenna [00:24:09] It’s a different cultural agreement. 

Will Ferrell [00:24:10] It’s- skiing is their national sport. And so everyone skis. And there were times when you’re because there’s a certain etiquette in waiting in the lift line where you know we give ourselves a little space in between. There would be some guy would have his ski jammed in between my legs, pressed up against my back, and I would look back. 

Angela [00:24:34] Like, hey. 

Will Ferrell [00:24:35] To give the nonverbal like, hello, and he- this person just look straight ahead. And then keeps scooting. Like, pressing against my shoulder blade. And I thought, Oh, this is just the way they do it. That that was weird. And the other thing was, you’d get to the top of a beautiful mountain riding the gondola, and, and then there’s just cigarette butts everywhere. 

Jenna [00:24:59] Really? 

Will Ferrell [00:25:00] Yeah. It was so bizarre. Just this- you just look out and just this beautiful landscape and then littered with cigarette butts. So I would. 

Angela [00:25:09] So ski Austria. 

Will Ferrell [00:25:10] So ski Austria. So I would do- do you guys know-

Jenna [00:25:13] Are you doing- I’m so sorry. I feel this is- or is this like a paid commercial for ski Austria because. 

Angela [00:25:19] Were you here today? 

Jenna [00:25:21] Is that why you’re here, Will? 

Will Ferrell [00:25:22] I just have to mention a couple things. 

Jenna [00:25:23] Did you bait me into talking about skiing? 

Will Ferrell [00:25:26] If you fly into. 

Angela [00:25:28] Hashtag. 

Will Ferrell [00:25:30] Hashtag… Stay at the hotel… There was one of the towns. 

Angela [00:25:38] Use code. 

Will Ferrell [00:25:38] The town that we- 

Jenna [00:25:40] Use code will40 for 40% off your first night’s stay. 

Will Ferrell [00:25:42] What happens in Iskul stays in Iskul.  

Angela [00:25:46] Hashtag cigarette butts. 

Will Ferrell [00:25:47] Hashtag cigarette butts. 

Angela [00:25:49] Oh, I don’t even know where we are. 

Will Ferrell [00:25:50] I don’t know where we are either. 

Angela [00:25:51] I don’t either. I love it. 

Jenna [00:25:52] I have something. I read that when you were in college you worked at a small town television station? 

Will Ferrell [00:25:58] Yes. This was just local cable. Around and About Orange County News. 

Angela [00:26:04] Oh, I love that. 

Will Ferrell [00:26:06] Seen by no one. 

Jenna [00:26:07] Was this before you had decided to go into acting? Like, was this like, maybe I’ll do this? 

Will Ferrell [00:26:13] Well, I was I had my degree in sports information. 

Jenna [00:26:18] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:26:18] Oh. 

Will Ferrell [00:26:19] Real major. 

Angela [00:26:21] You know what? 

Jenna [00:26:22] What do you learn? 

Angela [00:26:23] That’s like the class I took called ideas of mathematics. Like me and the defensive line of the  football team. 

Will Ferrell [00:26:29] Oh, right, right, right. 

Angela [00:26:30] Just talking about ideas of math. Just studies. 

Will Ferrell [00:26:33] Just ideas. General notions. That was basically sports journalism degree. So that’s kind of where I thought I was going to… That was a more legit way to get into entertainment. 

Jenna [00:26:46] Mm hmm. 

Will Ferrell [00:26:47] And so I was I had my degree, but I was I didn’t really have a job. It’s not like I got hired out of college. I moved back home, and I started working at this local cable thing. And so I did that for, like, a year and a half. And and I’d heard, like, people had gotten hired out of there and had, you know, because the whole thing is to put together a tape that you send out. And so while I was doing that, though, I thought- I remember there was a they had really good press credentials to like, go to they needed someone to go to the L.A. Rams. 

Angela [00:27:24] And you had press credentials so you could like get on the field and stuff? 

Will Ferrell [00:27:27] You could get on the field and like- 

Angela [00:27:28] Oh cool. 

Will Ferrell [00:27:28] Interview the coach and all that stuff like that. They were like, So we need someone to go do this, and everyone’s hand shot up. And my first thought was like, What day is that? Hmm? Do I really? Oh, I got something on Sunday. Yeah. 

Angela [00:27:44] Maybe I don’t really want to do it. 

Will Ferrell [00:27:45] Yeah. And it wasn’t like, Oh, gosh, I need that for my tape. Which is what you have to have. Mine was more like, Who can I- I got to bring a friend to operate the camera. Oh, it’s going to be a pain. And I thought. 

Angela [00:27:59] I can’t wear shorts. 

Will Ferrell [00:28:01] Right. I thought that’s not a good sign. That kind of coincided with… I just started thinking, Oh, I’m going to have to try to go for this comedy thing because I keep thinking about… 

Angela [00:28:16] Doing bits. 

Will Ferrell [00:28:17] Doing bits and wanting to do it. And I would go and I would sit at the Improv in Irvine and sit in the back of the room at an open mic night and almost sign my name to the list, but be too afraid and and go consecutive weeks and just watch 3 hours of comedy and sit there and think, Well that person, oh, they’re terrible. I’m much better than them. 

Angela [00:28:44] They shoulda set it up like this. 

Will Ferrell [00:28:45] Yeah. And or, Ooh, they’re really good. And I would just like, kind of see what. And so I was kind of doing that. I started taking my first class at the Groundlings. I was taking some acting class, so I was, I was kind of doing all that while I was working at the news station. And then the comedy won out. 

Jenna [00:29:06] You found your passion. Yeah.

Will Ferrell [00:29:07] Yeah. And it was- it was that I didn’t really want to be a new- I wanted to be Chevy Chase doing the news. I didn’t want to actually be doing the news, is what kind of came through. I once did a news story, I did a story on, uh, there was a team of goats that the city of Laguna Beach would hire to clear all the brush. 

Angela [00:29:30] Uh huh. 

Will Ferrell [00:29:31] As a way of fire mitigation. 

Angela [00:29:33] Right. 

Will Ferrell [00:29:33] So I did a story on that. It was not a great piece of journalism at all. Super dry. Like, I wish I had copies of these stories. 

Angela [00:29:41] There’s about. There’s about 15 goats here today. 

Will Ferrell [00:29:44] Yeah, I’m in front of the Laguna Beach, you know, it’s, like, super stiff and this and that. But I noticed when I filmed some of the goats, some of the footage, they looked like they were singing. So I did the story, as much of it as there was to tell a story, and then I just added opera music to these goats. It blew- the guy who ran the station, who was our editor and also the teacher of the class was like, That’s the way you do a story! You added a little pizzazz. It was hilarious. And I was like, it wasn’t that hilarious. I just added. 

Angela [00:30:19] You made that goat story really pop! 

Will Ferrell [00:30:20] Oh yeah. And I like, I thought, Oh, that’s funny. That’s. I’m more interested in messing around. 

Angela [00:30:28] I could never do anything in front of a group of people without doing a bit. And, you know, you can’t do bits for strangers. For the most part, they don’t land. But like, I was in charge of basically, like, the minutes in my sorority. 

Will Ferrell [00:30:42] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:30:42] And I would get up. 

Will Ferrell [00:30:43] My fraternity was a big stage for me as well. 

Angela [00:30:46] Yes! So I had to get up and sort of say how the, you know, the pledge dance went and what everyone ate. And I just started doing all these bits. And it was like crickets. There were like three gals that laughed. And then, then I also offended a few people because I guess they- I did a bit about the chicken dish and that was a big deal. I guess there was a committee that voted on this chicken dish and they were really pissed off at me and I, but I just couldn’t wait to get up there again the next week and give minutes. 

Will Ferrell [00:31:17] But did you slowly win them over? In a way?

Angela [00:31:20] Some not all. 

Jenna [00:31:23] It seems like the answer is no. 

Angela [00:31:23] Yeah. But I couldn’t wait to get- I was like, Oh, what am I- I can’t get up there.

Jenna [00:31:29] It was your first open mic. 

Will Ferrell [00:31:30] I did the same thing. I was our song chairman. And so during the chapter meet- there’s no- there was no reason for the song chairman to ever speak. But I made- I made-

Angela [00:31:40] You’re like, once again, we need to hear from the song chairman. 

Will Ferrell [00:31:43] I made the song Chairman’s report. And I had Monday night class, so I couldn’t be there. So I tape recorded a report, and it became this thing. 

Angela [00:31:52] And they would play it? 

Will Ferrell [00:31:53] They would play it, and everyone would be like, Shhh, everyone be quiet. And so they would play the song Chairman’s report. And I would just I’d make fun of people in the house. I would do this, I would do that. And it became a huge hit. 

Angela [00:32:08] I don’t think I became a hit. 

Will Ferrell [00:32:09] Yeah. 

Angela [00:32:09] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:32:09] So. 

Jenna [00:32:10] Do you consider Saturday Night Live like your quote unquote big break? Or was there something before that that really felt like your big break? 

Will Ferrell [00:32:20] Yeah, no question. That was definitely, I mean, there was there was one week when I was still before I auditioned for Sunday Night Live, there was a week here in L.A. where I got three jobs in one week. Now, they were all like five and under. They were like, one line each. 

Angela [00:32:37] Yeah, but still, that feels huge. Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:32:40] I landed three different on three different sitcoms. That almost was like, I still think of that, you know, and it, like, got- it was then just AFTRA, got my AFTRA card from, you know. 

Angela [00:32:53] You’re official. You’re in the union. 

Will Ferrell [00:32:56] Yeah. And so I remember so that was huge. And then of course yeah the Saturday Night Live thing was bonkers.  

Jenna [00:33:02] How long had you been a struggling actor or an aspiring actor before you landed on Saturday Night Live?  

Will Ferrell [00:33:09] Let’s see, I, I would have graduated college in ’90 and I got on the show and I was hired the summer of ’95. 

Jenna [00:33:22] So about five years. 

Will Ferrell [00:33:23] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:33:23] Knocking around. 

Will Ferrell [00:33:24] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:33:24] Just got your AFTRA card. 

Will Ferrell [00:33:26] Just got. Yeah. Yeah. 

Jenna [00:33:27] That’s pretty cool. 

Will Ferrell [00:33:28] Doing, uh. Yeah. Doing whatever. Like, we all were. Just kind of like finding any sort of, like, variety show in L.A. 

Angela [00:33:35] Did you have any odd jobs while you were a struggling actor? 

Will Ferrell [00:33:38] I answered phones. I answered phones at a real estate auction company. 

Jenna [00:33:42] What is that? 

Will Ferrell [00:33:43] And then I and then I answered phones at a art auction company, which my friend, now wife, Vivica, got me the job. So I was- I was our appraisal coordinator at Butterfield & Butterfield. 

Angela [00:33:58] You appraised art? 

Will Ferrell [00:33:59] No, I typed up the appraisal. 

Angela [00:34:00] You typed it up. Coordinator. Coordinator. 

Will Ferrell [00:34:03] I coordinated. 

Angela [00:34:04] Right. The appraisal. 

Will Ferrell [00:34:06] Yes. Let’s. Yeah. No, I got hired at SNL and still worked at the auction company for another month. 

Jenna [00:34:14] Oh. Uh huh.

Will Ferrell [00:34:16] They didn’t- they weren’t going to pay you till the first week of the show and I had bills to pay. But there were other coworkers, I’d be in my cubicle and they were like, Hey, didn’t you get on Saturday Night Live? I’m like, Yep, I sure did. 

Angela [00:34:32] I got a coordinate this appraisal. 

Will Ferrell [00:34:33] I gotta, I got to get through this stack of appraisals before I leave. 

Jenna [00:34:37] We got a fan question from Natalie D. 

Will Ferrell [00:34:39] Okay. 

Jenna [00:34:40] All right. Natalie wanted to know, How did you keep a straight face without laughing, especially in the scene with Ed Helms, where you make him eat soap? And Jess Renee asked if you ever break in scenes? 

Will Ferrell [00:34:52] Oh, well, that was going to be my answer to Natalie. I have a superpower of not I’m really good at not breaking. 

Jenna [00:34:59] This is what we remember about you. 

Angela [00:35:01] This is what we remember about you. And also my daughter loves bloopers, so we end up finding bloopers and we watched these bloopers of Talladega Nights, and everyone is losing it. And you are like a statue. 

Will Ferrell [00:35:14] Right. No, I never. It would only happen like, twice a year. On like Saturday Night Live or something. And a lot of times, though, there are times when I can tell I’m breaking, but no one else can tell. 

Angela [00:35:27] Right, right. 

Will Ferrell [00:35:27] So I hide it really well. 

Angela [00:35:29] I could tell not that you were breaking, but that you were genuinely surprised when Ed put the soap in his mouth because that wasn’t scripted. And it was real soap. And I think you just improvised for him to try the the soap. And then when he did, you can see your face. You’re like, heyyyy! 

Will Ferrell [00:35:46] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:35:48] It felt like you were doing just like a prank on him. Like, do this thing. Like there were all these scripted things, absurd things you were going to ask him to do. And you’re like, How about eat the soap? And it felt like a personal challenge. And Ed took you up on it, and the look in your eyes is a little bit like, whoa, well, okay! 

Will Ferrell [00:36:06] So funny. Yeah. 

Jenna [00:36:08] One question before we take a break. Do you remember the stunt gone wrong in the warehouse? We were talking about when stunts can go wrong? 

Will Ferrell [00:36:16] Yes. Sure.

Jenna [00:36:17] We got to talk to Greg about it. We got to talk to Randy Cordray, who was our production manager at the time. They all just want to say sorry again for basically just. 

Angela [00:36:29] Catapulting you. 

Jenna [00:36:30] Catapulting you into a basketball hoop. 

Will Ferrell [00:36:33] No, I don’t remember it. Do- did it go wrong? 

Angela [00:36:35] You’re thinking of something else? 

Will Ferrell [00:36:36] Oh, no. I just thought you meant the. 

Jenna [00:36:39] Like, story wise. 

Will Ferrell [00:36:40] Story wise. 

Jenna [00:36:41] You don’t remember when we actually almost like? 

Will Ferrell [00:36:44] No. 

Jenna [00:36:45] Gave you a real concussion? 

Angela [00:36:46] They had the pulley and they. 

Will Ferrell [00:36:48] Did it. Did it go-

Jenna [00:36:50] They are going to be so relieved that you don’t remember this. 

Angela [00:36:52] Oh, my gosh. They have carried this around for years. 

Jenna [00:36:55] It has haunted us, Will. 

Will Ferrell [00:36:56] No. I was just watching it because I remembered when when I revisited the episode going, Oh, that’s right. We do the thing. I go for the basketball dunk. And it’s falls on me. But it’s all off camera. But no, I don’t- oh, did something go awry? I don’t remember. 

Jenna [00:37:14] Will!

Angela [00:37:14] So what happened, Greg said, is they designed this pulley thing and Greg said just as he looked at it, he thought the physics were off on it. And they put you in it. And the first take they were as you jumped, these guys were going to pull this thing. 

Will Ferrell [00:37:25] Like a one, two, three. 

Angela [00:37:26] And then you were going to go up a little bit. And the first time they didn’t quite get you there. And they were like, Okay, we’ll do it again, you guys. We got to pull harder. So the second time you went to do the jump and they yanked it and you went flying into the backboard. 

Jenna [00:37:40] And I guess you got like a big cut on your knee. 

Will Ferrell [00:37:44] No! 

Jenna [00:37:44] Yes. And we were all just, like, mortified. We were mortified. 

Will Ferrell [00:37:49] Oh my go- how do I not have a memory of this? Wow.

Jenna [00:37:51] I don’t- You probably blocked it out cuz of the trauma. 

Angela [00:37:54] And then and then they were like, You don’t have to do it again. Don’t even worry about it. And you’re like, No, no, no, I got one more. Let’s do one more. And then they got that one. That was it. 

Will Ferrell [00:38:02] The only thing I do remember about that sequence is editorially, I said the funniest, strongest kind of darkest thing is that Deangelo is dead. 

Jenna [00:38:12] I do remember you pitching that. 

Will Ferrell [00:38:14] The funniest thing. That’s like the funniest way. 

Jenna [00:38:16] We kill you. 

Will Ferrell [00:38:17] Yes. But then they’re like, okay, just for safety, let’s just shoot this thing. And I was like, ohh, this is going in. 

Angela [00:38:24] The tag? Yeah.

Jenna [00:38:24] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:38:24] Where I’m walking through the office with my head bandaged. 

Angela [00:38:26] Oh, no, I know. I laughed through all your takes. You see me laughing. Fans just pointed it out. They’re like, Angela, you’re not even-

Will Ferrell [00:38:32] I did see you on that one. 

Angela [00:38:34] You know why? Because okay, here’s the thing. First of all, whatever. You’re the funniest person on the planet. There’s that. 

Will Ferrell [00:38:40] No. No, no. 

Angela [00:38:40] But no. But then on top of it, you give someone who is so flippin funny gibberish words, and then you never did them the same. So every time I would get used to you being like (SPEAKS GIBBERISH) then the next time it’d be like, (MORE GIBBERISH). I was like, I can’t! I can’t.  

Will Ferrell [00:38:58] But that was the only thing I do really remember. So that’s crazy. I don’t remember cutting my leg open, but I do remember going, Ughh. They should have killed me off!

Jenna [00:39:06] I wish they would have just killed me! 

Will Ferrell [00:39:08] That’d be so funny. 

Jenna [00:39:09] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:10] Like, whatever happened to Deangelo? 

Angela [00:39:12] There was a- in the shooting draft, there was- 

Will Ferrell [00:39:15] I guess it was too. 

Angela [00:39:16] It was too dark. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:17] Too dark for the guys. 

Angela [00:39:18] Because we have the shooting drafts, there was a scene where the ambulance is taking you away, and Darryl says to Andy, Is he going to be okay? And Andy goes, I don’t- they said no. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:31] That’s what I’m saying! 

Jenna [00:39:32] That’s so funny! 

Will Ferrell [00:39:32] So funny. 

Jenna [00:39:33] Yes. That would’ve been so good. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:36] They said no. Boy, how did I not remember getting slammed into the backboard?

Jenna [00:39:41] I don’t know. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:42] Wow. 

Jenna [00:39:43] They are going to be so relieved. I mean, I’m gonna call them this afternoon. 

Angela [00:39:46] I know. I was like, we should text Greg. 

Jenna [00:39:46] And be like, you guys, Will has no memory.

Will Ferrell [00:39:49] Please. They’re going to be like, what’s his problem? 

Jenna [00:39:51] We we asked Greg about it. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:53] Did he not-

Jenna [00:39:54] We asked Greg about it, and the first thing he said was, Oh, I still think about that constantly. 

Will Ferrell [00:39:59] Really? 

Jenna [00:40:00] Yeah. 

Angela [00:40:00] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:40:00] Oh, please tell him I, until this moment- and even now I’m not picturing it happening. 

Jenna [00:40:06] Wow. 

Angela [00:40:07] Oh, I’m texting Greg. 

Jenna [00:40:08] Yeah. 

Angela [00:40:09] Okay, well, let’s take a break. And when we come back, we have a regular guy quiz for you. 

Jenna [00:40:13] Yeah, we just ask you questions that a regular guy would answer. 

Angela [00:40:17] Okay. We’ll see if you’re a regular guy. 

Jenna [00:40:24] All right, Will. We’re back from our break. We’re going to give you the regular guy questions. It’s the real, like, hard hitting stuff. If you’re ready, this is the part where. 

Will Ferrell [00:40:32] It’ll prove if I’m a regular guy. 

Angela [00:40:34] Stakes are high. Stakes are high.

Will Ferrell [00:40:35] I can feel it. 

Jenna [00:40:36] Okay, Question number one. 

Will Ferrell [00:40:37] Everyone’s really crowded around the windows of the studio. 

Angela [00:40:40] I know. We’ve got a few succulents looking in. 

Jenna [00:40:42] What do you eat for breakfast? 

Will Ferrell [00:40:44] I usually eat… I love this Ezekiel’s bran cereal.  

Jenna [00:40:50] Is it like a muesli sort of thing? 

Will Ferrell [00:40:51] It’s kind of like a more of like a Grape-Nuts thing. 

Jenna [00:40:54] Okay. Is that every morning? Are you the same breakfast every day? 

Will Ferrell [00:40:58] Some. Not necessarily. 

Angela [00:41:01] Oh, you mix it up. 

Will Ferrell [00:41:02] I mix it up. 

Angela [00:41:03] Okay. 

Jenna [00:41:04] Okay. Where’s your protein in the morning?

Will Ferrell [00:41:06] It’s in the cereal. 

Jenna [00:41:07] Okay. I’m just checking. All right. 

Angela [00:41:09] Number two, what is one of your favorite places you’ve visited in the United States? 

Will Ferrell [00:41:15] One of. Well. Oh, really? Um, I love New York City. Duh. Who doesn’t? 

Angela [00:41:27] It’s a great place. 

Jenna [00:41:29] I love it. I want to retire there.

Will Ferrell [00:41:29] City that never sleeps. 

Will Ferrell [00:41:31]  It’s always surprising to me how you rediscover that city every time you visit. 

Angela [00:41:38] That is true. 

Jenna [00:41:39] Will. You’re speaking to my soul. 

Will Ferrell [00:41:40] Right? There’s just so many nooks and crannies and a new place here and this and this museum. And and it blows my mind. 

Angela [00:41:47] I love it. 

Will Ferrell [00:41:48] It blows my. But I also just went to Portland. Portland. It’s a little hidden gem. Maybe not so hidden now, but Portland’s great. 

Angela [00:41:57] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:41:58] Have you been? 

Jenna [00:41:58] No. 

Angela [00:41:59] I love Portland. I love the Oregon coast. 

Will Ferrell [00:42:01] Great restaurants, little coffee places, like cool bike paths and walking trails. And big enough of a city feel to it if you need that. But then really great neighborhoods. 

Jenna [00:42:13] In general, are you more city or more like rural kind of like do you like a kind of like hiking, kind of outdoorsy thing? Or do you like a city? 

Will Ferrell [00:42:24] I really kinda do any of it, because I can kind of adjust wherever I am. But my wife’s definitely more city. And I love cities, too, so I’ll go city. 

Both [00:42:34] Okay. 

Will Ferrell [00:42:34] Okay. 

Jenna [00:42:35] What was the make and model of your first car? 

Will Ferrell [00:42:38] It was a 1969 powder blue VW Bug. 

Angela [00:42:44] Aww!

Jenna [00:42:44] Do you wish you still had it? It’s kind of amazing. 

Will Ferrell [00:42:47] I had a Covid mid-life purchase where I bought a 61 VW bus with the 23 windows around the top. 

Angela [00:42:56] Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Jenna [00:42:57] Yes. 

Will Ferrell [00:42:58] Like surf green blue with white trim. It was like beautiful.  

Angela [00:43:02] Oh, my gosh. 

Will Ferrell [00:43:03] But I just sold it again because it made me too nervous to drive it because it was in, like, mint condition. 

Angela [00:43:08] Right. It was too special. 

Will Ferrell [00:43:09] It was too special. But then I. I’d feel guilty about not driving it. Then I felt guilty about when I drove it because I didn’t want to get dinged and I just couldn’t handle. 

Angela [00:43:18] It was a stressful purchase. 

Will Ferrell [00:43:19] Exactly. I don’t think I’ll ever be like a car guy that way. 

Jenna [00:43:23] I get it. 

Will Ferrell [00:43:24] So regular guy. 

Angela [00:43:25] Pretty regular. 

Jenna [00:43:26] Regular guy. 

Angela [00:43:27] Okay, this one hits close to home with me. How many emails are your inbox? Do you keep a tidy box, or do you let them pile up? 

Will Ferrell [00:43:34] Very tidy. Very tidy. I answer stuff. I cleared the decks right away. 

Angela [00:43:38] How many do I have? 

Will Ferrell [00:43:41] 1700. 

Angela [00:43:42] Yeah. 

Jenna [00:43:42] How does that make you feel when you read that Angela has 1700 emails? Does that? I can’t handle it. It bothers me. 

Will Ferrell [00:43:49] I can’t handle it either. 

Jenna [00:43:49] I don’t like it when she shows it to me. It gives me heart palpitations. 

Angela [00:43:55] Sorry. Listen. I’m chipping away at it. Next one. If you are in charge of cooking dinner, what is your go to dish? 

Will Ferrell [00:44:03] I can’t even say. 

Angela [00:44:04] What?! 

Jenna [00:44:06] Do you not have a dish? 

Will Ferrell [00:44:06]  I don’t ever cook dinner. 

Jenna [00:44:09] Who cooks? 

Will Ferrell [00:44:10] Viv does. 

Jenna [00:44:11] Oh, well, that’s good. You’re lucky you have a person who does the dinner. 

Angela [00:44:15] My husband always cooks. 

Will Ferrell [00:44:15] Really? 

Angela [00:44:16] Yeah. I don’t cook. 

Will Ferrell [00:44:16] I need to. I need to. 

Angela [00:44:18] I need to get a dish. We need a go to dish. 

Will Ferrell [00:44:20] I know. I don’t have one. 

Jenna [00:44:22] You should take a cooking class together. Get a go to dish. 

Will Ferrell [00:44:24] We should get a go-to called- there should be a cooking school called Go To Dish. 

Jenna [00:44:28] Go to dish.  

Will Ferrell [00:44:30] Because you go to learn but you also go to dish. Hey, hey, did you hear about this? Oh my gosh. That’s too much parmesan! Oh, sorry. I got wrapped up in the dish. Now I have to focus back on this dish. 

Angela [00:44:36] That’s actually pretty great. 

Will Ferrell [00:44:41] Go to dish. 

Jenna [00:44:42] What’s your go to board game? Do you have a family board game? 

Will Ferrell [00:44:46] The go to game right now is celebrity. 

Jenna [00:44:51] Mm hmm. 

Angela [00:44:51] Yeah. Love it. 

Will Ferrell [00:44:52] So the kids, we started doing it on ski trips and they they go crazy. They love trying to trip us up with, you know, YouTubers and people like that when we’re trying to act out. 

Angela [00:45:05] Oh, forget it. 

Will Ferrell [00:45:05] Yeah, pop culture people that we don’t know anymore. And it cracks them up. But then we get them back with. 

Angela [00:45:13] The oldies! 

Will Ferrell [00:45:14] Martin Van Buren. 

Angela [00:45:17] We were playing with my family and I was trying, I had Jennifer Aniston, and my sister Janet was like, I don’t know who that is. I was like, yeah, well, yes, you do! 

Will Ferrell [00:45:26] You do! 

Angela [00:45:26] Now. Don’t know. I’m like, Oh my god. 

Will Ferrell [00:45:29] Yeah. 

Angela [00:45:30] Okay. How early do you get to the airport before a flight? 

Will Ferrell [00:45:33] I I’m like, I’m pretty much a rule follower. I like the two hour thing. But here’s my rule, though. If I’m late, I don’t run. I don’t run. I don’t I don’t run to catch that flight. 

Jenna [00:45:50] What’s so what happens? Do you walk slowly? 

Will Ferrell [00:45:52]  I almost to punish. Because it won’t be- I’m not the reason we’re late. I’ll just leave it at that. 

Angela [00:46:01] Oh, so I’m not going to have to. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:03] But I’ll slow walk it. Okay. If everyone wants to be this late, we’re going to miss our flight. 

Angela [00:46:08] There’s consequences. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:10] There’s consequences. Get your act together. Let’s be ready. 

Jenna [00:46:13] That’ll teach ’em. 

Angela [00:46:14] Plan better. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:15] I don’t know why I want to punish, but I do. 

Jenna [00:46:20] It’s a teaching moment. All right. Well, Cynthia R asked, what was your favorite sitcom or cartoon as a kid? 

Will Ferrell [00:46:29] Oh, I had so many. I mean, I lived I lived in the world of sitcoms. You know, I’d just like, oh, wouldn’t it be great to be on the cast of- wouldn’t it be great to live on The Love Boat? 

Angela [00:46:41] Yes. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:41] Right? 

Jenna [00:46:43] Or Fantasy Island. 

Angela [00:46:43] Fantasy Island. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:45] Oh Fantasy Island. 

Jenna [00:46:46] Please. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:45] That ABC. They had a little run there. Between Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Tuesday nights. Forget about it. 

Angela [00:46:54] How cool to just be able to hit a jukebox, and the music, like- what a fun character bit. 

Will Ferrell [00:46:58] How cool to have your office in the men’s bathroom. 

Angela [00:47:02] Yeah, that’s true. I forgot about that. All right, our last regular guy question for you, Will, is, do you have a hobby? 

Will Ferrell [00:47:13] I get asked this. 

Angela [00:47:14] Do you really? 

Will Ferrell [00:47:15] And I never have an answer. I don’t collect stamps or baseball cards or anything like that. What is, if I did have a hobby… okay. 

Angela [00:47:24] Big finish here. Big finish. 

Will Ferrell [00:47:27] I don’t know if I, if I have a habitual thing. 

Angela [00:47:30] Right. Mine is- I was thinking about this. I’m like, what’s my hobby? Really, like, I love to go for a walk every day. And I love um I have a lot of hummingbird feeders. 

Will Ferrell [00:47:42] Okay. 

Angela [00:47:42] Because I live the sexy life. 

Will Ferrell [00:47:44] Yeah, no kidding. I do genuinely love driving my kids to school. But that’s not a hobby. 

Angela [00:47:50] That’s so cute. 

Will Ferrell [00:47:52] This is not a hobby because I don’t do it consistently enough, but we have a chicken coop, so we have chickens. And I love- it’s- there’s a real serenity to going out there and cleaning the chicken coop. Kind of talk to the chickens a little bit. There’s a little compost section to it. I kind of make sure they’re fresh, you know? But it’s not like I do that every two days. 

Both [00:48:14] Right, Right. 

Angela [00:48:15] I’ll take it. I’ll accept it. 

Will Ferrell [00:48:17] Okay. That’s my hobby. 

Jenna [00:48:17] It doesn’t have to be often. It’s just something that brings you joy. 

Angela [00:48:22] Yeah. 

Will Ferrell [00:48:23] Terr- sorry. 

Angela [00:48:24] What are you sorry for? 

Will Ferrell [00:48:25] I. I feel like this was- oh, no one’s- everyone’s going to remember how bad the podcast ended. 

Angela [00:48:32] Stop it. 

Jenna [00:48:32] I have a good ending. 

Will Ferrell [00:48:34] There’s gonna be- you’re gonna get so many letters. Like, dud city. 

Jenna [00:48:36] No, no. 

Angela [00:48:37] No. 

Will Ferrell [00:48:37] By the way, Ferrell, dud city. Dud city. Hashtag dud city, USA. 

Jenna [00:48:42] When we when we did Steve’s regular guy questions, all we did was make Steve feel like he was the most boring person on earth. 

Angela [00:48:47] He was like, Oh my god.. 

Jenna [00:48:48] He was like, I am- why did Nancy marry me? Like, I’m hearing myself back and I’ve never felt worse about myself. 

Angela [00:48:56] I’m so boring. 

Jenna [00:48:56] This is why we ask to take the picture at the top, because we like to leave people in like a shame spiral. 

Will Ferrell [00:49:04] It was prophetic. 

Angela [00:49:05] We might need to change the name from regular guy quiz to just like, want to feel (BLEEP)?

Will Ferrell [00:49:12] I really feel now I got to get a hobby. So I can literally answer this question. 

Jenna [00:49:21] We want to thank you so much for coming today, Will. And I wanted to end with this such this sweet note from a fan from Maxie B. Maxie said this: My mom and I adore watching Will Ferrell movies together and cracking up. My mom just turned 70 in January and we began talking about the thing that all kids dread talking about with their parents, the funeral arrangements. She wants cremation and a big party to celebrate her life, which I love, but she had the cutest request that she knows won’t be able to happen. She asked me to please hire Will Ferrell to sing her favorite song, Dust in the Wind at her party. I just think that is the sweetest thing. And I would love for Will to know how much he means to us and our family. He has kept us going through hard times. All my love. Maxie B. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:08] Wow, that’s. 

Jenna [00:50:09] That is- isn’t that so sweet? 

Will Ferrell [00:50:11] That’s so great. 

Jenna [00:50:11] I just think that’s like, you bring so much comfort to people with what you do with your comedy. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:18] Oh, thank you. 

Jenna [00:50:19] And just with who you are. You brought so much comfort to us on The Office when you came in during that transition time. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:24] Right. 

Jenna [00:50:25] So I mean, that’s why we do it. That’s why I mean, that’s what being an artist is. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:29] That’s couldn’t be nicer. 

Angela [00:50:31] Nicer and what a fun sense of humor her mom has. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:34] Yeah, no kidding. 

Angela [00:50:34] She wants to be cremated and wants you to sing Dust in the Wind. I love this woman, you know? 

Jenna [00:50:39] Right? 

Will Ferrell [00:50:39] I know. 

Jenna [00:50:40] I know. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:41] I’m speechless. 

Angela [00:50:42] We adore you. We really do. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:44] I adore you guys. 

Angela [00:50:44] I’m just always so happy when I see you and when we run into you. You’re just one of the good guys. You’re one of the good ones. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:51] Oh, thanks. Thanks, you guys. I don’t know. 

Angela [00:50:52] Thank you. 

Will Ferrell [00:50:53] I’m going to just going to drive in my car now. And just let all of this praise wash over me. 

Jenna [00:51:03] Own it. 

Will Ferrell [00:51:04] Okay. 

Jenna [00:51:08] That was so much fun. 

Angela [00:51:09] So fun. Okay, before we leave for our two week break, you guys, you know how much I love birthdays. You know how much I love celebrating them. Well, we have had a wonky few weeks with scheduling. We’ve had a lot going on. And we were not able to celebrate Jenna’s birthday when it was her birthday week. But you know what? It is never too late for birthday week! 

Jenna [00:51:31] I am honestly, I am surprised! This is so nice! Angela, you know I spent my birthday by myself in New York City because I was shooting Mean Girls. 

Angela [00:51:41] I know! 

Jenna [00:51:41] And it was a little tough, I’ll say. My family was wonderful. Lee hid birthday presents in my suitcase for me to open. 

Angela [00:51:49] He’s such a good husband. 

Jenna [00:51:49] And we celebrated a little before I left, a little bit after I got home. 

Angela [00:51:53] But we have not been able to celebrate here in the studio. 

Jenna [00:51:56] On the pod. 

Angela [00:51:57] So lady, sit back. I got some stuff coming your way. 

Jenna [00:52:01] Oh, boy. Oh, my gosh. 

Angela [00:52:01] Codi and Sam, I’m opening up the shower screen door thing. Cassi, I’m sad you’re not here today, but we’ll save some for you. Okay. I had this all hidden in the corner of the room. 

Jenna [00:52:14] I had no idea this was here. 

Angela [00:52:15] Okay, so, first of all, this is a gift that the minute you open it, it’s something you said you wanted. Okay? 

Jenna [00:52:21] Okay. Something I said I wanted… Oh, my gosh! I really did want this! This is the lighted magnification mirror so I can tweeze my eyebrows.  

Angela [00:52:38] And it magnifies three times the magnitude of whatever. 

Jenna [00:52:43] My 49 year old eyes thank you so much. 

Angela [00:52:46] Wait, I have to take your picture with it. Okay. And next, lady, I went to one of my favorite bakeries, and I got you gluten free brownies with sprinkles. 

Jenna [00:52:55] Ooh, gluten free dessert. Oh, I love it. 

Angela [00:53:00] Okay. I hope they didn’t get tossed around in the car. 

Jenna [00:53:04] Oh, they’re perfect. Thank you, Lady. 

Angela [00:53:08] Happy Birthday! Bye, you guys! 

Jenna [00:53:11] Bye! See you in two weeks! Thank you for listening to Office Ladies. Office Ladies is produced by Earwolf, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. Our show is executive produced by Codi Fischer. Our producer is Cassi Jerkins. Our sound engineer is Sam Kieffer. And our associate producer is Aynsley Bubbico. 

Angela [00:53:35] Our theme song is Rubber Tree by Creed Bratton. For Ad free versions of Office Ladies, go to StitcherPremium.com. For a free one month trial of Stitcher Premium, use code “office”.