John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American comedian, actor and writer who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, and has since gone on to a successful film career. He most recently starred in Blades of Glory.
Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Lee Ferrell, a keyboardist for The Righteous Brothers, and Kay (née Overman), a teacher.He attended Rancho San Joaquin Middle School and University High School in Irvine, where he was a kicker for the varsity football team. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he studied Sports Broadcasting and graduated with a degree in Sports Information(along with slight acting). He is also a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. After graduating in 1990, Ferrell developed his improvisation skills as a member of the comedy group The Groundlings.
Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 (he was chosen over future co-star Steve Carell [citation needed]). He had planned to perform a comedy bit to win a spot on the show from producer Lorne Michaels who traditionally sits down for the final interview with prospective cast members. It was Will's idea to arrive with a suitcase full of Monopoly money and say, "I'm prepared to do anything to be on this show, Mr. Michaels." After bringing the suitcase to the audition and subsequent meetings, it became apparent that there would be no need for the suitcase bit and Will aborted the idea after a successful 7 year tenure, Ferrell left SNL in 2002.
During his time on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell appeared in several movies: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, A Night at the Roxbury, Superstar, The Ladies Man, Dick, Drowning Mona, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Zoolander.
His first starring role came after his departure from SNL with Frank "The Tank" Ricard in Old School (2003). The movie "belongs to Mr. Ferrell," declared the New York Times, which described how he "uses his hilarious, anxious zealotry to sell the part." Old School was a major success and Ferrell received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance.
The title role in Elf (2003) followed, as did another MTV Movie Awards nomination. Ferrell continued to land comedy roles in 2004 and 2005 in films such as Melinda and Melinda, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Starsky & Hutch, and Wedding Crashers, earning himself a place among Hollywood's Frat Pack. In 2005, Ferrell earned $40 million. In 2006, Ferrell starred in Stranger Than Fiction and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; both received critical and box office success. Ferrell's performance in Stranger Than Fiction introduced audiences to the dramatic potential of Ferrell's acting talents. On December 27, 2006, 'The Magazine' named Ferrell as one of its three actors of the year in their 2006 year in review issue.
In March of 2007, Ferrell, along with Jon Heder, co-starred in Blades of Glory. During an interview in support of the ice skating comedy, Ferrell denied relying on performance enhancing drugs to assist with his work in the film, but did admit to using "a lot of human growth hormone and a little bit of Robitussin" for his work in Stranger Than Fiction. In 2005, Ferrell was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Ferrell has played two characters with the first name "Chazz": Chazz Reinhold in Wedding Crashers and Chazz Michael Michaels in Blades of Glory. Ferrell appeared as part of a pre-game video package for the Rose Bowl along with Texas alum Matthew McConaughey. Ferrell also sang a song at the ESPY Awards in 2006 about Lance Armstrong and Neil Armstrong, and is often noted as looking very similar to Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
Ferrell participated in a 79th Academy Awards musical-comedy performance with John C. Reilly and Jack Black, where they sang a song about comedies being snubbed by the voters in favor of dramas.