Comedian Will Ferrell has starred in some of the funniest movies in history.
But his journey to stardom began on TV.
And Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live co-stars made this shocking confession about him.
Not exactly what you want to hear
Will Ferrell became one of the most well-known comedic actors in Hollywood after starring in movies like Old School, Elf, Talladega Nights, and Anchorman.
His career took off when he joined the cast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live in 1995.
Ferrell became one of the most memorable cast members in the show’s history for his impersonations of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, former President George W. Bush, and Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray.
But his Saturday Night Live co-stars all thought that he was going to bomb when he first joined the show’s cast.
Ferrell revealed the doubts he faced in the Netflix documentary Will & Harper.
“I was trying to get to know everyone and there was a group of people who were looking at me and were like, we don’t get what this guy does,” Ferrell recalled. “He doesn’t seem that funny.”
Former Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele started the same week as Ferrell, and also heard from the cast that they weren’t impressed with his comedic talents.
“That first week we went downstairs to lunch and there was just something about the two of us where we were kind of on the same wavelength in a lot of different ways,” Steele said. “They all thought Will Ferrell was a dud. But you know, I just, I knew that Will was not the dud.”
“You were just an ambassador for me to be like, ‘No, don’t write him off. He’s actually really funny,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell spent seven seasons on Saturday Night Live before he embarked on a full-time movie career in 2002.
James Caan had doubts about Ferrell in Elf
The cast of Saturday Night Live weren’t the only entertainers to doubt Ferrell’s comedy talents.
Legendary actor James Caan wasn’t convinced that Ferrell was funny when they starred together in the 2003 Christmas comedy classic Elf.
He told actresses Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler on their Messy podcast that Caan didn’t understand his style of humor at first.
“James Caan, may he rest in peace, we had such a good time working on that movie,” Ferrell said. “He would tease me. Christina, you know: I like to do bits but I’m not like ‘on’ all the time.”
“In between set ups, [Caan] would be like, ‘I don’t get you. You’re not funny.’ And I’m like, ‘I know. I’m not Robin Williams.’ And he was like, ‘People ask me: “Is he funny?” And I’m like, “No, he’s not funny.”‘ It was all with love but at the same time,” Ferrell recalled.
It took Caan watching the movie before he understood Ferrell’s comedic genius.
“And then we were walking out of the theater at the premiere, and we walk out together and I take it as the best compliment because it’s coming from James Caan. He was like, ‘I’ve got to tell you: I thought everything you were doing while we were filming was way too over the top. Now that I see it in the movie, it’s brilliant,’” Ferrell said.
And just like his character in the movie, Ferrell drove Caan up the wall on set.
“But I love that the whole time, he’s not acting. He’s truly annoyed with me. He’s like, ‘Can this guy shut the f**k up? Jesus.’ I literally drove him crazy in that movie, just acting like that kid. But that was the funniest thing, him walking out of the theater and shaking his head and going ‘it’s brilliant,’” Ferrell added.
Will Ferrell managed to win over his co-stars and fans to become one of the most popular comedic actors this century.