Will Ferrell names the hardest role of his career: “It was the one thing I always dreamed”
One of the greatest misconceptions about acting is that comedy is as easy as it looks. The oft-repeated quote, “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard” was supposedly uttered by comedian Edmund Gwenn on his deathbed in 1959, and even though it has since been revealed to be apocryphal, there is a reason people reference it so often. Comedy is one of the most challenging genres to get right.
It relies on a difficult-to-define set of requirements, including the ever-elusive gift of perfect comic timing. If you’re laughing all the way through a comedic film, chances are, it was hell to make.
Just ask Will Ferrell, who has been one of America’s most beloved comedic actors for decades. Starting his career in improv, he was brought on as a cast member of Saturday Night Live in 1995 before transitioning into film roles in the late ‘90s. His brand of exaggerated comedy and satire was a hit on the big screen, with movies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Step Brothers cementing his place as a Hollywood heavyweight.
Unlike comedians such as Robin Williams and Steve Carrell, Ferrell has rarely stepped outside the realm of comedy into dramatic roles, focusing instead on his particular lane of humour. That doesn’t mean it’s been an easy path, though. In an interview with People earlier this year, the comedian revealed that the most challenging part of his career was when he had to be consistently funny week in and week out on Saturday Night Live.
He recalled how he felt when he landed his spot on the show after struggling to make it as a comic. “I knew in that moment it would be the hardest but most fun job I would ever get to do,” he said. “I still look back on it that way.”
Ferrell was on Saturday Night Live for a whopping seven seasons and played an integral role in pulling it back from the brink of cancellation. The show had experienced a turbulent 1994-’95 season in which in-fighting, cast reshuffles, and uneven writing led to low ratings and low morale. When the 1995-’96 seasons rolled around, creator and producer Lorne Michaels overhauled the cast and brought in Ferrell and Cheri Oteri to bring the show back to life.
Over seven seasons, Ferrell performed countless roles, including that of President George W. Bush and Jeopardy host Alex Trebek. His outsized approach to acting and knack for mimicry made him the perfect fit for the show, and he eclipsed many of his cast mates until comedians like Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey were brought on in subsequent seasons.
Despite how challenging his time was on the show, Ferrell had nothing but gratitude when looking back on the period. “It was the one thing I always dreamed about being a part of,” he said, referencing the show’s half-century on the air. “It’s kind of enormous to think about in a way, 50 years of what has really defined American comedy.”
