Will Ferrell

Ferrell married Swedish actress Viveca Paulin in August 2000 after meeting her in an acting class in 1995. They have three sons, born in 2004, 2006, and 2010, and maintain homes in New York City and Orange County, California.

Ferrell has remained connected to the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He has also run the Boston, New York, and Stockholm marathons and has raised money for cancer-related charitable causes.

Ferrell grew up in suburban Irvine, California, and discovered an ability to make people laugh while he was in elementary school. At University High School, he played varsity football, soccer, and basketball, served on the student council, and performed comedy sketches over the school intercom. He studied sports information at the University of Southern California and graduated in 1990, but decided not to pursue sports broadcasting after an internship in television.

After moving to Los Angeles in 1991, Ferrell trained with the improvisational comedy group The Groundlings. He developed original characters and impersonations there, including the Butabi Brothers with fellow Groundlings performer Chris Kattan. Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 and remained on the cast until 2002. His impersonations of George W. Bush, Alex Trebek, Harry Caray, Robert Goulet, and James Lipton became central to his reputation on the show, and he later hosted the program multiple times.

While appearing on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell took supporting roles in films such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Dick, and Zoolander. After leaving the show, he established himself as a film lead with Old School in 2003. That same year, he played Buddy, a human raised in Santa's village, in Elf, a role that became one of his best-known performances.

Ferrell followed Elf with a series of major comedy roles. He played news anchor Ron Burgundy in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Chazz Michael Michaels in Blades of Glory. He also appeared in Kicking & Screaming, Semi-Pro, and Step Brothers, the latter alongside John C. Reilly and directed by Adam McKay.

Although comedy remained his primary field, Ferrell took dramatic roles in Stranger Than Fiction and Everything Must Go. He also voiced characters in Curious George, Megamind, The Lego Movie, and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

Ferrell and Adam McKay launched Gary Sanchez Productions in 2006. The company produced several projects featuring Ferrell, including Step Brothers, The Other Guys, Casa de mi padre, The Campaign, and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Ferrell and McKay also collaborated as writers on Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and Anchorman 2.

In 2007, Ferrell and McKay co-founded the comedy website Funny or Die. Its early attention-grabbing videos included The Landlord, in which Ferrell is confronted by a profane toddler playing his landlady. Ferrell later expanded his producing work through projects such as Eastbound & Down, Drunk History, Dead to Me, and Succession.

Ferrell's later credits included Get Hard, Daddy's Home and its sequel, Zoolander 2, Holmes & Watson, Downhill, and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. He played the head of Mattel in Greta Gerwig's Barbie and produced and starred in Quiz Lady.

Ferrell made his Broadway debut in 2009 with the one-man show You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush. He wrote and performed the satirical portrayal of the former president, and the production received a Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event. HBO broadcast the show at the end of its limited engagement.

He has periodically returned to television, including guest appearances on 30 Rock and The Office. He also appeared in the comic miniseries The Spoils of Babylon and The Spoils Before Dying, and played an insecure patient in the miniseries The Shrink Next Door alongside Paul Rudd.

In 2019, Ferrell launched The Ron Burgundy Podcast with the iHeartRadio Podcast Network and later helped establish the Big Money Players Network. In 2024, he produced and appeared in the documentary Will & Harper, which follows a road trip with his longtime friend Harper Steele.

Ferrell has used sports performances as part of his comedy. In 2010, he appeared as the fictional Venezuelan pitcher Billy Ray "RoJo" Johnson for the Round Rock Express, throwing one pitch before a staged ejection. In 2015, he played for 10 Major League Baseball spring-training teams in a single day and covered all 10 positions as part of a Funny or Die charity special.

Ferrell is a supporter of the Los Angeles Kings and has appeared during games as Ron Burgundy. In 2016, he became a part-owner of Los Angeles FC, and the club won the MLS Cup in 2022. He is also a minority shareholder in Leeds United.

Ferrell received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2011 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. He received a James Joyce Award from University College Dublin in 2008 and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from USC in 2017.