Will Ferrell names his favourite co-star of all time: “Super fun, great guy”
Will Ferrell pops up just about everywhere. The comedy actor became famous because of the success of the likes of Elf and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Now, the world is his oyster.
Ferrell’s face is a staple of just about any medium-to-high comedy movie in the last five years. Most recently, he appears within the first few minutes of the festive Jonas Brothers movie, A Very Jonas Christmas Movie (let’s keep our fingers crossed that he doesn’t turn up in Camp Rock 3, shall we?).
After a seemingly infinite backlog of movies, Ferrell has worked with an incredible range of actors from all across the industry. It was exactly this fact that comedian Kevin Hart tried to get at when he asked Ferrell to name his favourite-ever co-star.
Sheepish, with a hint of disdain in his voice, Hart told Ferrell it would be alright if Ferrell didn’t grant him top spot, for their work together on the 2015 movie, Get Hard, which follows Ferrell as convict James King, who hires Hart’s character in order to prepare for prison life.
Somewhat harshly, Ferrell deems Hart his 15th favourite co-star, and quickly moves on to naming his absolute favourite: “I mean, obviously, I created a bond with John C Reilly.”
Comedy fans everywhere saw that one coming: the formidable pair have starred in six movies together, and counting. On screen, they engage with one another with passion and fluidity, teasing out the very best of their abilities together.
“Super fun, great guy,” Ferrell continued of Reilly. The first movie they starred in together hit the big screens in 2006. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby saw the fresh-faced pair excel in a comedy about racing. Ferrell plays Ricky, a rich Nascar superstar with a trophy wife, who is thrown from his throne when Jean Girard, a French F1 champion, overtakes him. Desperately, alongside the help of his father, he tries to regain the Nascar honour.
Two years later, the pair were back working together on a comedy movie everybody has heard of, Step Brothers. Again, the pair play best friends who butt heads, but this time, their performance split critics and the general audience in two; it was widely disliked by critics upon first release, but something about Reilly and Ferrell’s charm rubbed off on the wider public. The movie is full of man-child improvisations and wild, iconic quotes. This one’s for you, Sabrina Carpenter.
It’s a connection Hart, despite his prior upset, goes on to praise. “You and John C Reilly are something different,” He tells Ferrell. “It’s a comedy duo that… The action that’s happening, especially with regard to comedy, is obviously not written. But the comfort that you guys have in one another, the trust that you guys have in one another, and the ability to exchange the levels, right?”
Ferrell also praises his relationship with Reilly as they both share “that common goal of playing it through the character as opposed to keeping track of who’s going to do what.” Often in comedy, actors become obsessed with who might get the loudest laugh or say the most outrageous punchline. Between the two seasoned performers, they work in the service of the story, not in the service of their ego. A rare sight indeed.
