Famous Face from Orange County: Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell

This week's Famous Face from Orange county needs no introductions. Will Ferrell was born and raised in Irvine, CA. He attended Turtle Rock Elementary, Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, and later University High in Irvine. During his senior year, he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He eventually went to USC and graduated with a degree in Sports Information. He had an internship with a television station in the sports department and learned he did not enjoy the work. After graduation, he knew he did not want to do broadcasting. Ironic since he plays a broadcaster in the hit comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy. 

Ferrell eventually got casted with The Groundings in 1994, and a year later joined Saturday Night Live for a 7 year tenure.  He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. In 2002 he left Saturday Night Live and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of the season finale show.

After leaving SNL, he pursued a solo career and got his first starring role as Frank "The Tank" in Old School (2003). Old School was a major success and Ferrell received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance. He goes on to star in more comedy success like Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgandy, Elf, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, Step Brothers, and much more. 

How can someone so hilarious come from place like Irvine? In an interview with the OC Register back in 2008, Ferrell says:

Growing up in suburbia, in safe, master-planned Irvine, there was no drama so we had to create it in our heads. My main form of entertainment was cracking my friends up and exploring new ways of being funny. I didn't have to have the survival mode instinct like other comics, who grew up in tough neighborhoods. I had the opposite. For me, I grew up in Mayberry, and the humor broke the boredom. And there was a lot to make fun of.

Who knew a place like Irvine could cultivate such a creative and funny mind!

Will Ferrell Trivia:

• After graduating from USC, he took a job as a valet at a hotel. On his second day, he tore a baggage rack off the top of a van by trying to drive it under a low-lying beam
• He also worked as a teller at Wells Fargo, but came up short $300 the first day and $280 the second; he was not stealing the money, but was just careless and error-prone.
• NOT related to Colin Farrell (duh!)
• Was the kicker for his high school varsity football team, played soccer, and was the team captain of the basketball team.

Check out the rest of his interview with the OC Register HERE!

You stay classy, Orange County!