Harper Steele and Will Ferrell in ‘Will & Harper’ Photo: Netflix
Will Ferrell and Harper Steele wanted their new documentary, Will & Harper, to be available to stream ahead of the 2024 election.
The film, which follows the long-time friends on a road trip across the U.S. — former Saturday Night Live head writer Steele’s first such trip since coming out as transgender — had its world premiere in January at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix the following month.
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As Ferrell told Variety at Will & Harper’s recent Los Angeles premiere, he and Steele were adamant that the streamer debut the film prior to election day.
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“When we sat down with Netflix we made it clear that we wanted this out before the election,” the actor said. “We wanted it to have enough runway for people to get to see it and hopefully start having important discussions in their living rooms.”
Following a limited theatrical release, Netflix premiered Will & Harper on September 27, a little over five weeks before the November 5 election.
“We’ve heard from people who say they can’t wait to see this with friends and family who maybe don’t share the same viewpoint and they’re looking forward to watching it all together,” Ferrell told the outlet. “Hopefully, it could slowly chip away at some of that.”
In a recent interview with The Independent, director Josh Greenbaum explained that everyone involved with the film was aware that it would be perceived as political considering the wave of Republican-backed anti-trans legislation that has swept the country in recent years.
“But at its core, it’s a very pure, simple story of two friends,” Greenbaum said of the doc. “I think more hearts and minds can be changed and affected by that. In the climate we’re in now, if you smell an agenda, or you sniff out that someone is trying to convince you of anything, you lose half the audience. In no sense were we trying to avoid politics, but it didn’t feel central to the story we were telling.”
The film, which has been lauded by critics, is largely focused on Ferrell and Steele’s friendship but also explores the former SNL writer’s discomfort traveling through red states and visiting the rural dive bars she used to love as an out trans woman. For the most part, the pair are greeted warmly by the strangers they meet on the road in the film, though they both grapple with how much Ferrell’s fame acts as a buffer.
For instance, early in the doc, Ferrell and Steele attend an Indiana Pacers basketball game in Indianapolis, where they encounter Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R), who is eager to get some face-time with the Anchorman star.
“I will say that when you walk into a bar or basketball game with Will Ferrell, people tend to want to be kind,” Steele said during a recent appearance on The Late Show with Seth Meyers. “We have an uncomfortable moment with the governor of Indiana, who is not very kind to trans people, but he needed to take a picture with Will so bad that he dropped all of his principles. And that, to me, is what Will does for me.”
As Steele alluded, in 2023, Holcomb signed several anti-trans bills, including one that banned gender-affirming care for Indiana minors and another that banned gender-affirming surgery for incarcerated individuals in the state.
Holcomb has not commented on his interaction with Ferrell and Steele or on his brief appearance in the film.
But as Steele told Meyers, “In general… I do believe people want to be kind. And it’s just the news and the press and the politicians that are polarizing us.”
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