Will Ferrell And Friend Harper Steel Who Came OutAs Trans Take A Road Trip Across America
Will & Harper, a new documentary that follows comedian Will Ferrell on a cross-country road trip with his best friend of 30 years, Harper Steele, who came out as trans, is set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
According to the synopsis, “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 Pair Met In 1995 On Saturday Night Live
Ferrell, 56, and Steele, 63 met while the pair worked on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, both starting the same season in 1995. Steele came out as trans in 2022.
During an interview with Variety, Ferrell shared, “It was three summers ago in which Harper emailed a lot of her close friends with the headline: ‘Here’s a Weird One.’
“She went on to explain she was going to transition and we were all of course excited to hear the news and surprised to hear the news. All of us were extremely supportive and expressed love…but that sort of opened the questions like, how can we help you? What do you need us to do?”
Ferrell: All New Territory For Me
At the time Ferrell said that he had no knowledge of the trans community, saying, “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. 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.”
‘A Wonderful Way For Us To Explore This Topic’
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, along with Steele, about how the the documentary came to be, Ferrell shared, “The conception of the whole discussion, for some reason in my head, was a documentary, and of course, I made it clear to Harper, I don’t want to exploit our friendship, but this could be just a wonderful way for us to explore this topic, obviously for me to learn, ask all the questions that I have about what [Harper is] going through, and who [she is], and how [she has] changed.”
He continued, “I think we eventually landed on the same square that if we actually could convince someone to film it, that maybe it would be something that people would watch and it would just give them a different perspective, or just show off the fact that two people can have a conversation about this.”
Steele shared that she chose to take part in the documentary because, as it was only her second of transition, “I thought this would help me sort of dissipate some of the nervousness around it.”
Will & Harper is currently showing at Sundance. It does not yet have a release date outside the festival.
