History Creator / WillFerrell

* ManChild: His most common role, to the point that many of them have some sort of FreudianExcuse: for example, [[Film/{{Elf}} Buddy]] was raised by Christmas elves and, therefore, doesn't know how to function as a human adult while [[Film/StepBrothers Brennan Huff]] is a man who still lives with his mother despite pushing 40. Most of his other character of this nature, however, are just too egotistical ''not'' to be immature.

One of the most successful ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' alumni since Creator/AdamSandler, John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967 in Irvine, California) is a [[{{Comedy}} comedic]] actor well known for his ability to say, do, and bear witness to the craziest things with a totally straight face, although he is certainly quite capable of [[LargeHam hamming it up]]. His popularity on ''SNL'' (during the show's third GoldenAge when Creator/LorneMichaels once again had to save his show from cancellation following the harsh criticism and low ratings of the show's 20th season by firing long-standing/poorly-performing cast members, keeping in the stand-out performers, and hiring some new blood -- both on and off-set) ensured that he would become a box-office juggernaut in the world of funny movies. He is also part of the Creator/FratPack.

** ''[[Film/The House]]'' (2017) - Scott Johansen

* ''Film/{{Spirited|2022}}'' (2022) - as [[Literature/AChristmasCarol The Ghost of Christmas Present]]

With his creative partner/former SNL writer Adam [=McKay=] he runs a production company [[http://www.garysanchezprods.com/ Gary Sanchez Productions]] [[note]] Named after a fictional Paraguayan financier. [=McKay=] later explained that Gary Sanchez was a fake name in Ferrell's Blackberry, and they decided it was a random enough name to give to the company. [[/note]] as well as the popular website [[http://www.funnyordie.com/?_cc=__t___&_ccid=govsgk.ntvqhn Funny or Die]]. On January 7, 2016, Will Ferrell was announced as a new minority partner of UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer expansion club Los Angeles FC.

!! Notable Roles:

* ''Film/{{Spirited}}'' (2022) - as [[Literature/AChristmasCarol The Ghost of Christmas Present]]

* ''Film/{{Spirited}} (2022) - as [[Literature/AChristmasCarol The Ghost of Christmas Present]]

->''When you're scraping the bottom of the barrel, you find yourself with a Will Ferrell.''

* ''Film/OldSchool'' (2003) Frank "The Tank" Richard
* ''Film/{{Elf}}'' (2003) Buddy

** ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' sees him running around in tighty-whiteys, while ''Film/OldSchool'' famously has a scene where his character goes streaking, with a clear view of his naked ass.

!! Tropes exhibited by Will Ferrell:

** Of all things, his vocal work in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' counts. He manages to make the dramatic scenes effective despite his over-the-top accent.

* TheComicallySerious: When he's not ChewingTheScenery, he's saying the most ridiculous lines or performing in the most absurd situations imaginable with stone-serious conviction. Highlights include his impression of both Creator/AlexTrebek and [[Series/InsideTheActorsStudio James Lipton]] on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive,'', the former of whom would remain in a constant state of TranquilFury amidst his outrageous celebrity guests while the latter would wear a perpetual face of awe without the slightest facial twitch (an in one instance, stayed ''completely still'' for several seconds as the audience howled).

!!! Television
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (1995-2002 with a brief return in 2015 for the 40th anniversary special)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'' (2001-2002) Bob Oblong
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' (2011) Deangelo Vickers
* ''Series/TheSpoilsOfBabylon'' (2014) Eric Jonrosh
* ''Series/WelcomeToSweden'' (2014) Himself
* ''Series/{{The Spoils Before Dying}}'' (2015) Eric Jonrosh
* ''A Deadly Adoption'' (2015) Robert Benson

** ''[[Film/DaddysHome Daddy's Home 2]]'' (2017) Brad Whittaker
* ''Film/HolmesAndWatson'' (2018) Franchise/SherlockHolmes
* ''Film/EurovisionSongContestTheStoryOfFireSaga'' (2020)'' (2020) as Lars Erickssong

* ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'' and ''Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1997, 1999) Mustafa
* ''Film/ANightAtTheRoxbury'' (1998; [[TheMovie adapted]] from his SNL routine with Chris Kattan) Steve Butabi
* ''Film/{{Dick}}'' (1999) Creator/BobWoodward
* ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' (2001) Mugatu
* ''Film/JayAndSilentBobStrikeBack'' (2001) Federal Wildlife Marshall Willenholly

* ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy'' and ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie'' (2004) Ron Burgundy
* ''Film/WeddingCrashers'' (2005) Chazz Reinhold
* ''Film/KickingAndScreaming'' (2005) Phil Weston
* ''Film/TheProducers'' (2005) Franz Liebkind
* ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'' (2006) Harold Crick
* ''Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby'' (2006) Ricky Bobby
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Curious George|2006}}'' (2006) Ted
* ''Film/BladesOfGlory'' (2007) Chazz Michael Michaels
* ''Film/SemiPro'' (2008) Jackie Moon
* ''Film/StepBrothers'' (2008) Brennan Huff
* ''Film/LandOfTheLost'' (2009) Rick Marshall
* ''Film/TheOtherGuys'' (2010) Allen Gamble
* ''Film/EverythingMustGo'' (2010) Nick Hasley
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' (2010) Megamind
* ''Film/CasaDeMiPadre'' (2012) Armando Alvarez
* ''Film/TheCampaign'' (2012) Cam Brady
* ''Film/Anchorman2TheLegendContinues'' (2013) Ron Burgundy
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' (2014) President/Lord Business [[spoiler:and "The Man Upstairs"/Finn's dad in the real world]]
* ''Film/GetHard'' (2015) James King
* ''Film/DaddysHome'' (2015) Brad Whittaker
* ''[[{{Film/Zoolander2}} Zoolander 2]]'' (2016) Mugatu
* ''[[Film/DaddysHome Daddy's Home 2]]'' (2017) Brad Whittaker

* ''The Ron Burgundy Podcast'' (2019), in which he reprises his role from ''Anchorman''

* BreakTheHaughty: A regular motif in ''Anchorman'' and several other films of his like Film/StepBrothers, Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby, Film/BladesOfGlory and Film/SemiPro.
* BromanticComedy: Almost the king of this trope.

** Watch him sing opera in Film/StepBrothers. It's awesome.

* InelegantBlubbering: He does this in almost every movie he's in. This also counts as ManlyTears when appropriate.
* {{Jerkass}}: He typically plays these.

* LargeHam: He plays these very typically, to the point that it's his main forte.
* ManChild: He plays these in ''Elf'' and ''Step Brothers''.
* MinorInjuryOverreaction: This is his second best known act, after the aforementioned man-child trope.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: [[Film/TalladegaNightsTheBalladOfRickyBobby He ran around in tighty-whiteys on at least two occasions]], [[Film/OldSchool and once completely butt-naked]].
** An SNL sketch (on the season 27 episode hosted by Seann William Scott) was framed entirely around Ferrell in a [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead flag emblazoned]] g-string... which accidentally snapped apart on-camera. Thankfully, he had padding on underneath.
* OnlySaneMan: He rarely plays these, but he can step up as one. Alex Trebek from SNL's ''Celebrity Jeopardy'' skits is a prime example--he tries to keep the game running while dealing with idiots and jerks.

* PromotedFanboy: After being a fan of the Series/EurovisionSongContest for decades when his (Swedish) wife introduced him to it, it was announced in March 2019 that he would be co-writing and starring in a movie based on it.

* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: He does this soooo much in most of his films.
* SeventiesHair: In ''Anchorman'' and ''Semi-Pro''. In general, he likes to grow his hair like this particularly for those roles.

* ''Film/{{Dick}}'' (1999) Bob Woodward

On ''SNL'', his recurring characters include Baron Nocturna from "Goth Talk," Frank Henderson (a dad who threatens his kids with horrible punishments if they don't get off his shed), Jacob Silj (a man who has NoIndoorVoice due to a medical condition), Gene Frenkle (Music/BlueOysterCult's cowbell player), Terrence Maddox (a drifter who poses nude for art classes), Roger Klavin (one half of The Luvahs), Marty Culp (one half of the singing Culp couple), and Steve Butabi (one half of the Roxbury Brothers). His most memorable celebrity impressions include Creator/AlexTrebek, Harry Caray, James Lipton, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush (which, sadly, he didn't get to play for all eight years of Bush, Jr.'s administration[[note]]He did play him when Ferrell came back to host and on some post-''SNL'' projects, but after Ferrell left in 2002, Chris Parnell, Darrell Hammond, Will Forte, and Jason Sudeikis were hired to fill the void, which garnered a lot of mixed reactions from fans[[/note]]), Kenneth Star, Neil Diamond, Robert Goulet, and Janet Reno. And no, [[Music/RedHotChiliPeppers Chad Smith]] [[IdenticalStranger is not part of this list]].

One of the most successful ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' alumni since Creator/AdamSandler, John William "Will" Ferrell (born July 16, 1967) is a [[{{Comedy}} comedic]] actor well known for his ability to say, do, and bear witness to the craziest things with a totally straight face, although he is certainly quite capable of [[LargeHam hamming it up]]. His popularity on ''SNL'' (during the show's third GoldenAge when Creator/LorneMichaels once again had to save his show from cancellation following the harsh criticism and low ratings of the show's 20th season by firing long-standing/poorly-performing cast members, keeping in the stand-out performers, and hiring some new blood -- both on and off-set) ensured that he would become a box-office juggernaut in the world of funny movies. He is also part of the Creator/FratPack.

* ''Series/{{Eurovision|Song Contest}}'' (2020) as Lars Erickssong