This year’s Sundance Film Festival saw the premiere of a new documentary titled Will & Harper, showcasing the beautiful friendship between comedian Will Ferrell and his best friend, Harper Steele. The duo met when they worked together on Saturday Night Live and have been friends for almost three decades.
According to Variety, Steele wrote for Saturday Night Live for 13 years, from 1995 to 2008. In 2022, Steele came out as transgender at the age of 61. As it is, the latest documentary on Steele and Ferrell shows their new stage of friendship. Will & Harper is not only emotional but also hilarious, and it received a standing ovation at the festival.
According to Deadline, the logline of Will & Harper reads, “When Will Ferrell finds out his close friend of 30 years is coming out as a trans woman, the two decide to embark on a cross-country road trip to process this new stage of their relationship in an intimate portrait of friendship, transition, and America.”
The director of Will & Harper is Josh Greenbaum. Some of his best-known projects are Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, Strays, Bless This Mess, Too Funny to Fail, and more.
Will Ferrell revealed he had “zero knowledge” about the trans community before his friend came out
Variety reported that Will Ferrell was unaware of the trans community before Harper Steele came out. In an Audible podcast, the American actor revealed, “I had met trans people, but I didn’t have anyone personally in my life. So this was all new territory for me, which is why I think this film is so exciting for us to kind of put out there in the world.” He further stated, “It’s a chance all of us in the cis community to be able to ask questions. And also just to listen and be there as a friend to discuss this journey.”
According to Deadline, Harper Steele said that she was a lot more confident after transitioning. She even added that the aforementioned documentary did nothing but help her in the process. She stated, “What the doc did for me was give me a little more confidence as a trans woman. I will say you probably don’t want to be overly confident.”
She ended her statement by saying, “I’m still a little leery of what I would do in my 20s and 30s when I was performing male, but I think I am a lot more confident and I think this documentary helped me immensely in that sense.”
Will Ferrell said that because of Will & Harper, he learned about the transgender community. In addition, he now knows about his friend even more than he knew her before. He said, “For me, it was a chance to transition myself, in a way. To learn, to get to know my friend even more than I knew her before. To get to ask these questions that I think a lot of cis people still have. For me to struggle on camera with asking these questions.”
According to IMDb, Harper Steele is known for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga and The Spoils of Babylon. Meanwhile, Will Ferrell has been active in the show business since 1991. His most famous roles are in films like Elf, Anchorman, Kicking & Screaming, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, Stranger than Fiction, and Curious George, among others. Furthermore, he has won four Emmy Awards. In addition, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.
