Live From Harvard Yard It's Will Ferrell

Although comedian Will Ferrell has spent much of his professional life impersonating celebrities such as George W. Bush, Janet Reno and Alex Trebek, he says he’s just going to be himself while delivering today’s Class Day speech.

“Under the title of ‘Straight Talk,’ I’m going to give the speech your family, friends and administrators are afraid to give you about going out in the real world,” Ferrell says, although he wouldn’t disclose the specifics of his talk.

Best known for his comic antics on the popular NBC late-night television show Saturday Night Live (SNL), Ferrell’s ascension to movie stardom didn’t always seem likely.

He almost became a sportscaster after earning a degree from the University of Southern California (USC) in sports information. But after surprising successes in improv comedy, Ferrell won the role on SNL which would propel him to the big screen and prominence in the entertainment industry.

California Living

According to those who know him as a child, Ferrell didn’t at first appear to have a knack for comedy.

But performing was in Ferrell’s blood. His father, after all, is a keyboardist for the Righteous Brothers.

As a student at University High School in Irvine, Calif., Ferrell was not the class clown.

“You would never have guessed he’d grow up to be a professional comedian,” says Therese A. Sorey, Ferrell’s sophomore English teacher. “He was very bright, very diligent, and a strong writer. I’ve noticed that funny people tend to be very smart. My honors classes get my jokes more then my other classes do.”

But Sorey recalls that Ferrell’s humor would shine through when he and a friend made morning announcements over the school’s P.A. system.

“One of the things they used to do was imitate Hans and Franz from SNL. They would do those voices to announce...school events and sometimes they’d dress up at assemblies,” she says.

Sorey laughs as she recounts the time she asked Ferrell why he played the kicker position on the school’s football team.

“He said, ‘I thought I’d better pick something that will keep me from getting hurt, so I chose the position where there’s a penalty for hurting me,’” she says. “That showed you how smart he was.”

Planning to become a professional sports journalist, Ferrell worked briefly as a sportscaster for a local cable network before deciding to try his hand at acting.

On a whim, Ferrell signed up for classes in acting and stand-up comedy from the Groundlings, a renowned Los Angeles improv troupe.

After just one year of training in the Groundlings, a group that had included other famous comedians like Phil Hartman, Lisa Kudrow, Pee Wee Herman, and Jon Lovitz, Ferrell was asked to join the group as a performer in 1992.

He auditioned for NBC’s hit comedy show SNL four years later and landed the job. For seven seasons, Ferrell impersonated prominent Americans such as Neil Diamond and Ted Kennedy and Senator Edward M. Kennedy ’54-’56, D-Mass., created characters that made America laugh, such as Craig the Spartan cheerleader, musical middle school teacher Marty Culp and the caffeine-hyped host of mock talk show “Morning Latte.”

Drawing on his experience in sports journalism, Ferrell also perfected an impression of Harry Caray, the late Chicago Cubs sportscaster.

Ferrell earned two Emmy nominations for his work on SNL in 2001, for Outstanding Individual Performance and for Outstanding Writing for a Variety program.

Hitting the Big Screen

Ferrell’s work at SNL led him from the silver screen to major feature films.

In one popular SNL skit, Ferrell and castmate Chris Kattan play the Butabi brothers, a duo of misfit partiers who continuously bop their heads in unison to Haddaway’s classic 80s song “What is Love?”

Paramount Pictures turned the hit skit into Night at the Roxbury, a full length feature film in 1998 that was a moderate box office success.

After appearing in movies such as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, The Ladies Man, Zoolander and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Ferrell decided to leave the cast of SNL to pursue a career exclusively in movies.

He began this endeavor with a lead role in Old School, starring along with Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson. The movie followed the zany antics of three men pining to relive antics of their college days—and doing everything in their power to bring back the memories. In one scene, the three men streak down the town’s main street.

Ferrell takes a break from two ongoing film projects to speak today. This winter, he will appear in the movie Elf as a man who is raised by Santa’s elves after falling into his bag of gifts one Christmas.

And, in early 2004, the film Action Newsman is slated for release, in which he will play a chauvinistic news anchor whose authority is challenged by a newcomer female journalist.

Asked what pranks his character in Old School might play if he attended Harvard, Ferrell says he might try speaking gibberish.

“It’s not very ‘Old School,’” he says, “but I’d try to experience four years of Harvard speaking in a made up language.”

Harvard Ties

Although he grew up in suburban California, Ferrell is no stranger to Boston. He visits the area often to see his wife’s relatives, but he says the city is more than just a travel destination.

“I love the history of the city, and I do like the Red Sox, even though I’m glad the Angels won the World Series last year,” Ferrell says. “One thing I love about Boston, I like to sneak into the Old North Church after hours and just hang out.”

This year, Ferrell took part in a classic local tradition—he ran the Boston Marathon.

“It was my third marathon,” Ferrell says. “I ran New York, and Stockholm, Sweden and then I ran Boston. My time was 3 hours and 56 minutes. I was trying to break four hours.”

Ready To Inspire—Succinctly

Ferrell will set down his pom-poms and forego his SNL persona as an overenthusiastic cheerleader in order to make his remarks straightforward for today’s festivities.

But not everything, of course, will be serious.

Ferrell recommends that the graduates remember a tidbit of advice he failed to receive before he stepped off the USC campus.

“Pay your taxes. Always,” Ferrell says adamantly and laughs.

But attendees need not anticipate a feature-length presentation today. Ferrell learned that lesson at his own graduation. He admits he’s embarrassed that he doesn’t remember who spoke, and he only recalls that the day was long and hot.

“It’s going to be hot [on Class Day] for sure,” Ferrell says. “I’m going to try to err on the brief side.”

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts can be reached at alberts@fas.harvard.edu.