Will Ferrell Confidently Denounces Transphobia
Image: Source: Netflix
Will Ferrell, ahead of the release of a about his friendship with comedy writer and trans woman Harper Steele, has discussed why he thinks that transphobia exists in a statement that confidently denounces bigotry.
Will & Harper, set to release today on Netflix, follows the story of Ferrell and Steele鈥檚 friendship after the latter came out as a trans woman in 2022. Steele reached out to Ferrell and a number of other friends via email, asking them to support and stand up for her where possible.
However, Ferrell felt like he needed to learn more about the trans community, and the pair decided to take a road trip through America with filmmaker Josh Greenbaum, and the result is the critically acclaimed Will & Harper.听
Ahead of the film鈥檚 release, Ferrell, Steele and Greenbaum spoke to about the documentary, where the Step Brothers star was asked why he believed transphobia exists.
In response, he said: 鈥淭here is hatred out there. It鈥檚 very real and it鈥檚 very unsafe for trans people in certain situations. But I don鈥檛 know why trans people are meant to be threatening to me as a cis male. I don鈥檛 know why Harper is threatening to me.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 so strange to me, because Harper is finally鈥� her,鈥� he continued. 鈥淪he鈥檚 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鈥檚 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.鈥�
“Why would you care if somebody’s happy? Why is that threatening you?”
Ferrell鈥檚 stance was praised widely online, with trans writer saying that 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important that someone like him is saying something like this鈥� it鈥檚 truly the best surprise to see authentic support come from such an unlikely source.鈥�
Elsewhere in the interview, Steele herself talked about the intent of the film. 鈥淲e just wanted to address what it鈥檚 like for two people who are friends 鈥� what all this means to us, and to our friendship moving forward,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 needed him to see the joy I was experiencing. And I also wanted to demonstrate to my friend here that I was still funny. And probably funnier than him.鈥澛�
Director Josh Greenbaum also spoke about the impact of Ferrell鈥檚 involvement in a project like Will & Harper saying: 鈥淭he fanbase he has crosses all spectrums, but it also has a very traditionally straight, cis-male, bro-y [element]. On some level, for sure, we want to reach that audience. But it was very important to me, and to Harper, that we were also representing the queer community.
Will & Harper聽releases on Netflix today.
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