Will Ferrell and Harper Steele in Will & Harper (2024).
Sundance Institute
Will Ferrell is declaring himself a friend to the transgender community with his heartfelt documentary.
The Golden Globe nominee denounced transphobia as he promoted Will & Harper, premiering Friday on Netflix and in select theaters, shining a spotlight on his longtime friendship with trans co-star and former Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele.
“I think we fear what we don’t know,” Ferrell told The Independent when asked why he thinks transphobia exists in our culture.
“There is hatred out there. It’s very real and it’s very unsafe for trans people in certain situations,” he added. “But I don’t know why trans people are meant to be threatening to me as a cis male. I don’t know why Harper is threatening to me.
“It’s so strange to me, because Harper is finally… her. She’s finally who she was always meant to be. Whether or not you can ultimately wrap your head around that, why would you care if somebody’s happy? Why is that threatening to you? If the trans community is a threat to you, I think it stems from not being confident or safe with yourself,” said Ferrell.
Directed by Josh Greenbaum, Will & Harper follows Ferrell as he finds out Steele, 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.
After meeting on SNL and co-writing Netflix’s Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020), Steele announced her transition to Ferrell and other loved ones.
Following its Sundance premiere in January, Netflix scooped up Will & Harper in an eight-figure deal.
“It’s a movie about the power of friendship and acceptance that we hope can help shift the culture, and so we are excited to have a partner in Netflix that has the ability to reach the largest possible audience worldwide,” said the filmmakers at the time.
The doc was produced by Rafael Marmor, Ferrell and Jessica Elbaum for Gloria Sanchez, Greenbaum and Christopher Leggett. EPs include Justin Baldoni, Andrew Calof, Jamey Heath and Steve Sarowitz for Wayfarer Studios.