Will Ferrell's acting - stage, voice, comedy, film, television...

May 17, 7:28 PMActing ExaminerDeborah Smith Ford

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Acting Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Will Ferrell at TV Land Awards                                             (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

John William "Will" Ferrell is an American comedian, actor, voice actor, and writer who comes from a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors. 

Ferrell emerged in the late 1990s and the 2000s along with Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Jack Black, Vince Vaughn, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson.

Voice acting is no stranger to Ferrell.  He has been in several animated television programs - television series The Oblongs and has had several guest appearances on Family Guy, where he played the Black Knight in "Mr. Saturday Knight."

Ferrell has also been voice to Fat Greek Guy and Miles "Chatterbox" Musket in "Fifteen Minutes of Shame". Ferrell's Ted (a.k.a. The Man in the Yellow Hat) from the movie Curious George, and he guest voiced on an episode of the FOX sitcom King of the Hill as a soccer coach.

Formal training for Ferrell was his studying of  Sports Broadcasting at the University of Southern California.  He graduated with a degree in Sports Information.  In 1990, he developed his improvisation skills as a member of the comedy group The Groundlings.

Ferrell's stage experience began when he made his Broadway debut taking on departing U.S. President George W. Bush in a new one-man show called You’re Welcome America.

Ferrell co-produces and co-writes (with Adam McKay) an HBO show starring Danny McBride called East Bound and Down.  He has not only worked with Zooey Deschanel, but also Adam McKay - on board for Hansel & Gretel.

Film - since the mid-90s Ferrell has been in film after film, maybe especially remembered for Superstar with Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher.  Some of his latest films are: Stranger Than Fiction, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Curious George (all in 2006),  Blades of Glory (2007), Step Brothers (2008) and Land of the Lost (2009).

I have only been funny about seventy four per cent of the time. Yes I think that is right. Seventy-four per cent of the time." Will Ferrell

(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)