- Born
- Birth nameJohn William Ferrell
- Nickname
- Wilf
- Height1.91 m
- John William Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay (Overman), a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician. His parents were originally from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine, where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings, where fellow cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and former Saturday Night Live (1975) repertory players such as Laraine Newman, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman began their careers. It was there he met Chris Kattan and the two became good friends and both went on to Saturday Night Live (1975) later. He has also appeared on several television programs, including Strangers with Candy (1999), Äiti ja risat (1993) and Living Single (1993) during his time at The Groundlings. Will also lent his voice to the armless and legless dad of cartoon family "The Oblongs".
In 1995 he became a feature cast member at Saturday Night Live (1975) during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live (1975) cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. He has appeared in every Saturday Night Live (1975) movie since his premiere on the show in 1995. In 2002 he left Saturday Night Live (1975) and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of the season finale show. Since leaving the show Will has pursued a career in films. In 2000, he married Viveca Paulin, and lives in L.A.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rod Reece
- SpouseViveca Paulin(August 12, 2000 - present) (3 children)
- ChildrenMagnus Paulin FerrellMattias FerrellAxel Ferrell
- ParentsBetty Kay Ferrell (Overman)
- RelativesPatrick Ferrell(Sibling)
- Often plays childish, immature characters
- Often appears either naked or shirtless in his movies
- Wild curly blond hair and blue eyes
- Towering height and slender frame
- A kicker for the Varsity football team, and still holds the school record for the most field goals made.
- Does not do stand-up comedy like most of the Saturday Night Live (1975) cast and alumni. He considers it to be "hard, lonely and vicious".
- His first son was born during the filming Pelkoa ja inhoa nappulaliigassa (2005), which is why it is his favorite of the films he appeared in. He said that he is eager for his son to see it, because he will always associate it with his birth.
- Was not a class clown in high school but a scholar and an athlete.
- His father, Lee Ferrell, was a longtime keyboardist and saxophonist for The Righteous Brothers.
- I'm not really an exhibitionist. I'm drawn to the outrageous stuff because it's fun, not because it's some deep compulsion. I'm no tortured, anger-stoked, deeply neurotic comic. Just a pretty low-key normal guy. A, "Hey, the glass is half-full", kind of a guy. But please keep it quiet, or I may never work again.
- I often don't think a lot about the ramifications of anything I do.
- There's just something about yelling that's funny to me.
- [on being a comic]: I attribute it to growing up in safe, boring suburbia in California. I wasn't beaten up by anyone, there was a really low crime rate. There was really nothing to do except think of funny things.
- It was a gradual rise that started on SNL. I went from being the guy who did the cheer-leading thing, to the guy who plays the president to, "Hey, that's Will Ferrell!" I saw that happen then in terms of films, and it was really Old School (2003) that got me a real lead part. It was a scary thing when I left SNL (in 2003), but then "Old School" came out, and then Elf (2003) happened the same year, and now Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006).
- Spirited (2022) - $20,000,000
- The Shrink Next Door (2021) - $1,000,000 /episode
- Land of the Lost (2009) - $20,000,000
- Semi-Pro (2008) - $20,000,000
- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) - $20,000,000
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