Will Ferrell regrets dressing in drag for laughs on SNL: ‘Something I wouldn’t choose to do now’

Will Ferrell has expressed his regret over his on-camera antics just to get laughs when starring on Saturday Night Live.

Will Ferrell has expressed his regret over dressing up as a woman during his time on Saturday Night Live.

The actor and comedian says he never should have dressed up in drag as former US lawyer general Janet Reno on the comedy show just to get some laughs.

While reflecting on one particular skit with friend and former SNL hear writer Harper Steele, Ferrell said that dressing in drag is a major regret for him.

“That’s something I wouldn’t choose to do now,” he said on The New York Times podcast, while adding that the character “hits a false note now”.

Ferrell me on the show when they both started working on there from 1995. The actor left in 2002 and Steele followed suit in 2008.

Steele would later come out to Ferrell as a transgender woman in 2022, with her journey soon to be shared on their Netflix documentary Will & Harper. The doco follows the duo on a road trip across America as they rediscover their friendship in the wake of the writer’s transition.

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Will Ferrell (right) dressed up in drag as former US lawyer general Janet Reno on SNL. Picture: NBC

Ferrell also dressed as a woman on SNL when interviewing Michelle Obama. Picture: NBC

In the podcast to promote their doco, the Elf star admitted that there was a “fair amount” of sketches from his time on SNL “where you’d lament the choice.”

“I mean, in a way, the cast – you’re kind of given this assignment. So I’m going to blame the writers,” he joked to which Steele playfully fired back, “Yeah, he’s not culpable at all.”

On a serious note, Steele added: “I wrote Monica Lewinsky stuff I wasn’t proud of. I wrote some good Britney Spears stuff and some stuff that I’m not as proud of. I wrote some Clinton things I wasn’t proud of. I’m just moving on. I have to.”

Ferrell expressed his regret to former SNL head writer Harper Steele, who came out as a transgender woman in 2022. Picture: Jeremy Chan/Getty Images

Ferrell and Steele will star in the upcoming Netflix documentary Will & Harper. Picture: Netflix

But that doesn’t mean she has any regrets, especially surrounding the Janet Reno skit.

“This kind of bums me out,” Steele said. “I understand the laugh is a drag laugh. It’s, ‘Hey, look at this guy in a dress, and that’s funny.’ It’s absolutely not funny. It’s absolutely a way that we should be able to live in the world. However, with performers and actors, I do like a sense of play.”

“This is an interesting question to me,” Steele continued. “Do queer people like ‘The Birdcage,’ or do they not? Robin Williams, at least as far as we know, was not a gay man, and yet he spent about half of his comedy career doing a swishy gay guy on camera. Do people think that’s funny, or is it just hurtful? I’ve heard from gay men that it was funny, and I’ve heard from gay men that it was hurtful.

“I am purple-haired woke, but I wonder if sometimes we take away the joy of playing when we take away some of the range that performers, especially comedy performers, can do.”

Originally published as Will Ferrell regrets dressing in drag for laughs on SNL: ‘Something I wouldn’t choose to do now’