
Will Ferrell
Department: Acting
Biography
John William Ferrell (born July 16, 1967)is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and a British Academy Television Award, in addition to nomination for two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. In 2011, Farrell was honoured with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. In 2015, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named the best comedian in British GQ. Ferrell established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he performed from 1995 to 2002, and has subsequently starred in a string of comedy films. After starring in the 2003 comedy film Old School, Ferrell became considered a member of the "Frat Pack", a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors who emerged in the late 1990s and the 2000s, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, Paul Rudd, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson. He founded the comedy website Funny or Die in 2007 with his former writing partner, Adam McKay. Ferrell starred in comedy films such as A Night at the Roxbury (1998), Elf (2003), Anchorman (2004), Kicking & Screaming (2005), Talladega Nights (2006), Blades of Glory (2007), Step Brothers (2008), The Other Guys (2010), Get Hard (2015), and Barbie (2023). He has also taken dramatic roles in Stranger than Fiction (2006), Everything Must Go (2010), and Downhill (2020). He has voiced roles in Curious George (2006), Megamind (2010), The Lego Movie film franchise (2014–2019), and Despicable Me 4 (2024). He also starred in and produced the documentary Will & Harper (2024) with writer Harper Steele. Ferrell has received four Primetime Emmy Awards for his work as a producer on the drama series Succession (2018–2023) and the specials Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2019–2022). He also produced the series I'm Sorry (2017–2019), the series Dead to Me (2019–2022), and the series Drunk History (2013–2019). For his work on Broadway, he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event for his satirical portrayal of George W. Bush in You're Welcome America (2009).
Known For

Stranger Than Fiction
2006

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
1997

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
2001

Elf
2003

Old School
2003

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2004

Step Brothers
2008

The Wendell Baker Story
2005

A Night at the Roxbury
1998

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
2006

Bewitched
2005

Wedding Crashers
2005

Blades of Glory
2007

Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie
2004

Semi-Pro
2008

Starsky & Hutch
2004

Curious George
2006

Kicking & Screaming
2005

The Other Guys
2010

Zoolander
2001

Melinda and Melinda
2004

537 Votes
2020

The Producers
2005

Superstar
1999

Winter Passing
2006

The Landlord
2007

Megamind
2010

Strays
2023

Will Ferrell: You're Welcome America - A Final Night with George W. Bush
2009

Everything Must Go
2011

Dick
1999

The Ladies Man
2000

Land of the Lost
2009

Ricky Bobby: Sports Century
2006

Casa de Mi Padre
2012

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
2009

Megamind: The Button of Doom
2011

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell - Volume 3
2010

The Campaign
2012

Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
2012

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
2013

The Internship
2013

Barbie
2023

The Lego Movie
2014

SpongeBob's Truth or Square
2009

Get Hard
2015

You're Cordially Invited
2025

Daddy's Home
2015

NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002

Will & Harper
2024

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell
2002

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell - Volume 2
2004

SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas
2009

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Jimmy Fallon
2005

The Procedure
2007

The Love We Make
2011

Zeroville
2019

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies
2006

Despicable Me 4
2024

Earth to America
2005

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
1999

Zoolander 2
2016

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman
1998

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman
1998

Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber
2015

Quiz Lady
2023

Pickled
2022

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Kattan
2003

A Deadly Adoption
2015

The House
2017

Ferrell Takes the Field
2015

The Roast of Tom Brady
2024

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Molly Shannon
2001

Daddy's Home 2
2017

Holmes & Watson
2018

Boat Trip
2002

Criminal Hearts
1996

Drowning Mona
2000

Fight for Your Right Revisited
2011

The Suburbans
1999

Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party
2004

A Bucket of Blood
1995

The Thin Pink Line
1998

Men Seeking Women
1997

Good Cop, Baby Cop
2007

A.C. Green: Iron Virgin
2016

The 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord & Tish
2018

Bat Fight with Will Ferrell
2009

The Royal Wedding Live with Cord and Tish!
2018

The Concert for New York City
2001

Downhill
2020

The Prince of Fashion
—

The 2019 Rose Parade with Cord & Tish
2019

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
2019

Star Wars Spoofs
2011

MTV Reloaded
2003

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons"
2019

Between Two Ferns: The Movie
2019

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
2020

Spirited
2022

The Women of SNL
2010

Untitled The Legend of Cocaine Island Remake
—

Green Team
2007

Old School: Orientation
2003

Drunk Parents
2019

Feeding America Comedy Festival
2020

Impractical Jokers: The Movie
2020

David
2020

VOMO: Vote or Miss Out
2020

John and Will's Animal Choices
2011

Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
1999

Presidential Reunion
2010

Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special
2003

I Spy
2002

Playing POTUS
—

Street Justice
—

Judgment Day
—

SNL50: The Homecoming Concert
2025

Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
2025

Tough Guys
—

Not So Fast, My Friend: A Lee Corso Special
2025

A Very Jonas Christmas Movie
2025

Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation
2007

Saturday Night Live in the 2000s: Time and Again
2010

Live from New York!
2015

Journeys of a Gentle Southern Man
—

The Fifth Wheel
—

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003

Best Week Ever
2004

Family Guy
1999

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003

The One Show
2006

The Guardian
2001

The Daily Show
1996

Saturday Night Live
1975

LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988

Strangers with Candy
1999

Today
1952

The Office
2005

HypaSpace
2002

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992

Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
2002

Hercules
1998

The Oblongs
2001

Inside Comedy
2012

The Early Show
1999

30 Rock
2006

The Holiday Movies That Made Us
2020

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993

Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil
2021

Eastbound & Down
2009

The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show
2007

Conan
2010

The Oscars
1953

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
1999

TRL
1998

We Are LAFC
2019

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
2008

Saturday Night Live
1975

The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015

The Spoils of Babylon
2014

The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015

Family Guy
1999

Billy on the Street
2011

Welcome to Wrexham
2022

The Spoils Before Dying
2015

Drunk History
2013

Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014

Kids' Choice Awards
1987

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2014

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
2012

Welcome to Sweden
2014

SpongeBob SquarePants
1999

MTV Movie & TV Awards
1992

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
2007

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014

SmartLess: On the Road
2023

The Graham Norton Show
2007

The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019

Saturday Night Live
1975

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995

Golden Globe Awards
1944

@midnight with Chris Hardwick
2013

The Reichen Show
2005

Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014

No Activity
2017

Stupid Pet Tricks
2024

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009

Raw
1993

The Men in Blazers Show
2014

Man vs. Wild
2006

Saturday Night Live
1975

King of the Hill
1997

John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A.
2024

Comedy Central Roasts
2003

The Hawk
—

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015

The Shrink Next Door
2021

Hot Ones
2015

Off Camera with Sam Jones
2014

The Boys
2019

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
2009

@midnight with Chris Hardwick
2013

Conan
2010

The Megan Mullally Show
2006

The Charlie Puth Show
2024

Undeclared
2001

On Our Own
1994

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
2025

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003

Circus Halligalli
2013

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003

Drunk History
2013

Cow and Chicken
1997