Will Ferrell urges straight cis fans to watch his new trans film: ‘You’ll be surprised’
Anchorman star Will Ferrell has urged fans to watch his new documentary film Will & Harper, in which he and his trans friend, Harper Steele, embark on a cross-country road trip.
Will & Harper begins with Steele telling Ferrell, her friend of 30 years, that she is transitioning.
The duo met on Saturday Night Live in 1995, when Ferrell joined the cast as a comedy newcomer and Steele was writing for the sketch show.
In their new two-hour film, they take a trip over two weeks and use it as an opportunity to ask each other important questions, and establish what their friendship will look like going forward. It’s also a chance for Steele to visit some of the macho haunts she used to love in and around her home town, such as dive bars and dirt racetracks, to see if she’s still welcome.
Speaking exclusively to PinkNews ahead of the film dropping on Netflix, Ferrell shared his wish that all his fans – mainly, it’s fair to say, straight and cisgender men – will tune in.
“If you have any sort of inkling to want to watch this, I mean, I’ll put it this way: as we started making it, one of the things that we discussed was: ‘OK, if we do have something here that is watchable, entertaining on any level, I wonder if my audience, [who] wouldn’t necessarily gravitate to something like this, will they give something like this a chance?” the Emmy-Award-winning star of Elf said.
“I would say: give it a chance. It’s a funny movie, you’ll be surprised. It’s just Harper and Will talking. That’s all it is.”
The film is a heart-warming comedy with a simple message – the power of friendship – at its core. Ferrell, Steele and director Josh Greenbaum have stressed that it isn’t an explicitly political documentary, and there’s not necessarily any preaching about what someone should or shouldn’t believe.
That said, as trans people remain curiously high on the agenda for right-wing rage-baiters, the film does have an unavoidable element of social justice. It traces Steele’s journey to self-acceptance, as well as painting a picture of anti-trans hostility in the US – particularly in two particular scenes.
In the first, the pair attend a basketball game where Ferrell poses for photos with a local governor, only to realise later that the politician had supported plans to ban gender-affirming healthcare in his state.
The second involves them teaming up for an eating challenge at a Texas steak restaurant, but just as quickly as the revellers get excited about seeing Ferrell in the flesh, they bristle at seeing a trans woman living so publicly.
Afterwards, the pair are hounded with anti-trans abuse on social media, and Ferrell breaks down in tears as he explains feeling he “let down” Steele.
But despite the hostility and sad political reality, Will & Harper is a simple, human story, one that explores how far we go to protect and support those we love, and how important it is to show that love to ourselves, too.
Will & Harper is due to drop on Netflix on Friday (27 September).
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