Will Ferrell and Harper Steele stop by The Hollywood Reporter's studio in Park City during the Sundance film festival to talk about 'Will & Harper,' a story focused on Ferrell and Steele navigating a new stage in their relationship after discovering Steele is coming out as a trans woman. The actor and former SNL writer dish on their cross-country road trip and the people they met along the way.
00:00It was extraordinary that we could get all of our friends to come and participate.
00:05I have more friends than that.
00:08No one's debating.
00:08Should we name the person who turned it next?
00:10Yeah, yeah.
00:11We, one of the things that got cut out of the documentary, we counted how many friends each had.
00:16Okay, do you remember like about...
00:18Harper has 420 friends.
00:21Yes, yes.
00:22And, uh, Will.
00:23I have 30.
00:24Will has about 30, a lot of acquaintances.
00:30I think we both...
00:35I'll speak for Harper.
00:36Please.
00:37Please.
00:39I'll do some mansplaining.
00:40I love to speak for Harper.
00:41Yes.
00:43No, I think we both feel fortunate that we met a group of people professionally throughout our careers early on.
00:52Continue to meet people who are just quality individuals who are not only good and funny at what they do, but also just, you know, a little bit of luck of the draw.
01:04Um, but maybe because we're so great, we draw those people to us.
01:09That's where it is.
01:10And I, yeah, I just think the comedy world breeds its own, um, little inner groups, you know, people who speak the same kind of joke language and the same kind of comedy language.
01:22And then you get to know the ones that sit with your sensibility.
01:25And it is an island of misfit toys.
01:27So I think, you know, you do kind of get drawn to each other and then, uh, and the friendships become that much closer because of that.
01:35I remember Colin Quinn, once we were, it was my first year at Saturday Night Live and he looks out around the room and goes, look, it's a room full of class clowns.
01:45Yeah.
01:46So all of us were the same person getting to this place.
01:49And so I think I feel super fortunate to have come upon this group of people, the conception of the whole discussion for some reason in my head was a documentary.
02:02And, uh, of course I made it clear to Harper, like I don't want to explore our friendship, but this could, I think, be just a wonderful way for us to explore this topic, obviously for, for me to learn.
02:19Uh, ask all the questions that I have, uh, about what you're going through, um, and who you are, have you changed?
02:29And I think we eventually landed on the same square that if we actually could convince someone to film it, that maybe it would be something that people would watch and it would just give them a different perspective or just show off the fact that two people can have a conversation about this.
02:48I had two reasons for doing it.
02:49One of them was kind of selfish.
02:53It was only in my second year of transition and I thought this would help me sort of dissipate some of the nervousness around it.
03:02Walking around with a big shot, like, well, was going to be helpful to me.
03:06Um, yes.
03:08That's the last thing we had both.
03:11Knowingly and unknowingly made lists of things we wanted to ask each other.
03:15Like, so those moments were like, here's, here's something I'm going to ask you that, that was like me checking the next thing on, on my little black notebook I had with me and Harper was doing the same.
03:25Yeah.
03:25And it's 17 days, it's 16 hours a day, it's over 250 hours of footage that was culled down to a little less than two hours.
03:33But the moments that stick out, I think when I think back are the remarkable moment of the young kid on the unicycle coming up as Harper was just discussing.
03:49Going to school, riding around town, being featured in the newspaper on her unicycle.
03:56And as we had that discussion, we found out later this person was also a trans, young trans.
04:04That moment really is, was like a serendipitous kind of thing of like, oh, this is, this is worthwhile.
04:14We're having all these interesting experiences along the way.
04:16The, the other moment that I know we've discussed is the moment at the Grand Canyon, which not only is kind of an amazing cinematic moment, but we come across the couple.
04:30Is it the therapist?
04:30Yes, who's a retired therapist who wants to ask Harper some questions about her transition and then Harper actually gets to help her kind of work through some issues that, that, that she back in her practice felt ill-equipped to advise someone who was going through the same situation.
04:51And that was a, that was such a, just powerful, full circle moment that happened, obviously, you know, on the spot.
05:00So that, that, those are two of my favorites.
05:03What is a movie, classic movie or television show that you have.
05:07It's a wonderful life.
05:08Pretended to have seen.
05:10Have you ever seen any things I've done?
05:12No.
05:14Never.
05:16All right.
05:17When I, I had a really embarrassing moment when, uh, Henry, Henry White, Henry Hill.
05:24Henry Hill.
05:24Henry Hill.
05:25Someone was talking about how they were going as Henry Hill for Halloween.
05:28No.
05:29No.
05:31The, the, oh, oh, Hank, Hank Hill.
05:34The, the, no, Henry, the, the, the meth show.
05:36Oh.
05:37Everyone's favorite show of all time.
05:38Breaking Bad.
05:39Breaking Bad.
05:39John Carlo was here earlier.
05:40Wait, but who's Henry Hill?
05:42Henry White.
05:43Walter White.
05:44Walter White.
05:46See?
05:47I've never seen Breaking Bad.
05:49I almost was going to nod to Henry, I almost was going to nod to him with Henry Hill.
05:51So, surprise, surprise, I've never seen Breaking Bad.
05:56But someone said they were dressed as Walter White.
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