Will Ferrell and Harper Steele Say Their Road Trip Doc Is About Friends 'Coming Together' in 'Change or Crisis'

Mar. 15, 2025

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Will Ferrelland Harper Steele are sharing more about their friendship-fueled cross-country road trip documented inWill & Harper.

During a Q&A at the Telluride Film Festival following a screening of their new Josh Greenbaum-directed documentary on Saturday, Aug. 31, Ferrell, 57, and Steele, 63, who met onSaturday Night Livecirca 1995, opened up about the emotional film, which documents the longtime friends' first trip together after Steele comes out as a trans woman.

“I will say just as a trans woman, I don’t think this is a representation of a trans woman walking through the world in either red states America, [or] really anywhere because they don’t have a camera, they don’t have Will Ferrell,” she said.

Steele continued, “We were very aware of that. I do think that the film is more about how friends should come together in moments of any, not just trans stuff, but any moments of change or crisis. And I think that [the film] does it beautifully.”

Ferrell also acknowledged the element of celebrity his presence added to their journey. Still, he joked, “Harper would constantly remind me that I’m a B level, I’ve fallen off of A, I’m struggling to stay a B level actor possibly dipping my toe to the C level.”

More seriously, he said, “once that kind of melted away” with those they encountered everywhere from dive bars to race tracks, profound interactions arose naturally. “Everyone was asking, what are you guys doing? And then we got into the subject matter and we got into real discussion,” he said.

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele inWill & Harper(2024).Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

The two also shared their reactions to viewing the documentary with the Telluride crowd. For Harper, who shares her emotional journey throughout the film, rewatching it is “not easy,” she allowed.

Ferrell added that with each screening, “I cry every single time. I have my Kleenex right here,” adding that the documentary is “one of my favorite things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of.”

An official synopsis of the film, which premiered at theSundance Film Festivalin January and is streaming on Netflix next month, reads: “When Will Ferrell’s good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.”

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Elsewhere in the Q&A, the two discussed what they had learned about one another while making the documentary.

“I mean, we joke about it in the movie of how cheap Harper is, but it’s really true. She’s so cheap. So I learned that,” Ferrell cracked.

“But I also learned she’s just so incredibly articulate and one of the smartest people I really know in terms of these long in-depth conversations we would have. And I felt like I was in class every day in a great way, learning about the trans experience, learning the vernacular, learning everything,” he continued.

Steele spoke of the size of Ferrell’s star entering this project. “Will has an agency, a team, a management team, and he’s a brand. He makes a lot of money. I’m not cheap,“she volleyed back, to crowd laughter. “You should be paying for things!”

But she notedthe Bud Lite controversylast year, saying Ferrell’s idea to make the film will likely also invite criticism. “There will be a lot of people that’ll go - you’ll see it on Twitter as soon as this is out. You’ll see, ‘I’m never watching a Will Ferrell movie again’ and people will get nervous.”

Putting herself in the spotlight, Harper added, “there’s a great risk for me, I [will] get the usual online love or not love, but Will will also get that and I think that needs to be pointed out. "

Harper Steele and Will Ferrell at the premiere ofWill & Harperduring the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2024, in Park City, Utah.Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Ferrell and Steele first met onSNLabout 30 years ago, when the actor was hired on as a cast member and Steele as a writer. Both would go on to have years-long stints on the iconic sketch-comedy show.

“It’s a movie about the power of friendship and acceptance — that we hope can help shift the culture,” they added.

Will & Harperis streamingSept. 27 on Netflix.

The 51st Telluride Film Festival runs through Monday, Sept. 2.

source: people.com