Will Ferrell and Harper Steele Insisted Netflix Release ‘Will & Harper’ Before Election Day So People Could ‘Start Having Important Discussions in Their Living Rooms’
by Marc Malkin · VarietyIt’s no coincidence that the new Netflix documentary “Will & Harper” was released just a few weeks before Election Day.
The film chronicles a cross-country road trip that Will Ferrell took with former “Saturday Night Live” head writer Harper Steele shortly after her transition.
“When we sat down with Netflix we made it clear that we wanted this out before the election,” Ferrell told me at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “We wanted it to have enough runway for people to get to see it and hopefully start having important discussions in their living rooms.”
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Since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Harper said that she’s been hearing from a “lot of parents and kids” who want to see the movie.
“We’ve heard from people who say they can’t wait to see this with friends and family who maybe don’t share the same viewpoint and they’re looking forward to watching it all together,” Ferrell said. “Hopefully it could slowly chip away at some of that.”
Director Josh Greenbaum admitted he was nervous that the two wouldn’t let their guards down on camera. “One of my fears was how open and vulnerable they were willing to get with each other,” he said. “They’re comedians at the end of the day and I’m friends with lots of comedians and they’re not always about being open and vulnerable. But within a couple of days of shooting they opened up and that fear was not warranted.”
Ferrell said, “It was amazing how we were able to keep the flow of conversation going six hours a day in a car and the depths of things we explored.”
While the film featured Steele struggling with revisiting old stomping grounds for the first time as a woman and the hate she and Ferrell were subjected to on social media after they were spotted at an Indiana Pacers basketball game and surrounded by fans at a Texas steakhouse, the two joked that the most challenging times while shooting had nothing to do with gender identity. “I hate to sound so flip but starting the car in the morning was probably the hardest thing we had to deal with,” Steele said, laughing.
“Yeah, that car wasn’t good,” Ferrell added.
I also asked the two for casting suggestions in case the doc ever gets adapted as a scripted feature.
Steele cracked, “I love Hunter Schafer and I feel like I look exactly like her.”
When Ferrell suggested Leonardo DiCaprio play him, Steele quipped, “He’d probably have to put on a bit of ugly makeup to look like you.”
See more photos from the Los Angeles premiere of “Will & Harper” below.