Will Ferrell to transphobes: “Why would you care if somebody’s happy?”

Veteran comedian and actor Will Ferrell has recently made a documentary about discovering one of his best friends is trans. The film, Will & Harper, follows Ferrell and his friend, Harper Steele, as they embark on a road trip together after Harper’s transition. 

The documentary premiered to good reviews at Sundance earlier this year and was snapped up by Netflix. It hit the streamer today. 

Ferrell has given several interviews to promote the film. In a new one with The Independent in the UK, he was asked why he thinks transphobia exists. Ferrell says he knew “zero” about the trans community before Steele, a friend of 30 years, came out to him. 

“I think we fear what we don’t know,” he replied. 

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“There is hatred out there,” Ferrell continued. “It’s very real and it’s very unsafe for trans people in certain situations.

“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.”

Meeting and coming out

Steele and Ferrell met in 1995 when they joined Saturday Night Live: Ferrell as a performer and Steele as a writer. They shared a similar sense of humor and became firm friends. 

Ferrell told Variety earlier this year that Steele came out via an email sent to a small group of close friends. 

“All of us were extremely supportive and expressed love,” he said. “But that sort of opened the questions like, how can we help you? What do you need us to do?”

Despite trans issues being at the heart of culture wars in the US, Will & Harper avoids dwelling heavily on politics. 

“We just wanted to address what it’s like for two people who are friends – what all of this means to us, and to our friendship moving forward,” Steele told the Independent. “I needed him to see the joy I was experiencing.

“And I also wanted to demonstrate to my friend here that I was still funny,” she laughs. “And probably funnier than him.”

Watch the trailer for Will & Harper below. 

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