Will and Harper’s Trans-Atlantic Voyage
- The documentary follows Ferrell and Harper Steele on a cross-country road trip as they navigate Steele's transition as a trans woman, exploring themes of friendship and self-discovery.
Will Ferrell may have jokingly told Oscar voters to "suck it" for failing to nominate his Netflix documentary Will & Harper, but come Feb. 16, the doc's creative team will be soaking up the love in London at the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards.
Will & Harper , which premiered at Sundance 2024 and hit Netflix in September, follows Ferrell and Harper Steele, longtime friends from their days on Saturday Night Live , where Steele was head writer, as they embark on a cross-country road trip after Ferrell learns Steele is coming out as a trans woman. Throughout the trip, the duo explore this new stage of their relationship in an intimate, moving portrait of friendship and transition.
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They'll be up against some stiff competition — Black Box Diaries , Daughters , No Other Land and Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story — but Steele says that the accolades aren't the reason they made the doc. "If it's announced that we win, it just brings the film out to a wider audience. That's the cool part about it," she says.
Steele and Will & Harper director Josh Greenbaum talked to THR about what makes Ferrell the ideal partner on a journey of self-discovery and how the Trump administration "emboldens people to feel like their fears and hatred are justified and validated."
Has the reaction to Will & Harper surprised or moved either of you?
JOSH GREENBAUMTwo days ago, I was at a comedy show in Las Vegas for a friend's birthday. And this doesn't happen to me, because I'm not on camera. People don't recognize me. But a 45-, 50-year-old guy came up to me teary-eyed, saying, "I just want to thank you for your documentary. My young son is trans, and we've had a hard time getting through it, and the film was incredibly helpful for both of us, and we watched it together." It was so moving, especially because I don't get that interaction often.
The film is even more topical now with a new administration that is implementing orders that damage the lives of trans people. Perhaps Will & Harper is more important than ever?
HARPER STEELEThere have been three executive orders attacking trans people from this new president. And whether these things become law or how they play out, I don't know, but what I do know is this has emboldened a lot of people to say that trans people are not good. I would invite anyone who's feeling that way to watch Will & Harper . I don't know if it'll change their minds, but for me, I can only hope that the film keeps working and does the work that I think we wanted it to. It's not just the U.S., it's all these places that previously were considered liberal bastions. They are falling into levels of fear. What I find in this country, though, is there's just a meanness about it. I wake up feeling attacked.
GREENBAUMWe do now have a president who spent over $250 million on a single anti-trans ad that was incredibly aggressive, that said, "She's for they/them, I'm for you." It just emboldens people to feel like their fears and hatred are justified and validated.
Harper, the film ends on a note suggesting you're still growing and testing the waters, as it were, in middle America. I wonder, since the film's come out, do you feel more self-assured? Have your relationships with people changed?
STEELEThat's an astute observation. It is a transition. I'm way more confident than I was probably before I started the film two years ago. My relationships with everyone are deeper because as a woman, you can express vulnerability. It's just there's a slight wrinkle in the whole process. I think people don't understand. I don't think they're actually feeling what I'm feeling when the government itself is telling me that they don't want children to transition, when they say there are only two sexes, when they will not have trans women involved in any kind of athletics. When the government says this, it acts as a kind of subtle terrorism. So now, when I cross the country, which I will be doing shortly, I think I'm going to be a little afraid. I think that's the point. That's how terrorism works. If you're intending to scare that person, and I'm going to cross the country and be a little afraid when I shouldn't. I just shouldn't be afraid. Maybe I'll find that I shouldn't have been in the first place. I love being in the world. It's just so much better [now]. However, there's this little wrinkle that's occurred that has made me a little more self-conscious of late.
I think we saw a lot of vulnerability from Will in this film as well. What made Will such a good partner on this journey?
GREENBAUMOne of the highlights of my whole experience making this film was we finally showed it to some of our friends and family at an early point before Sundance, and Will's dad came to a screening and came to me crying afterward, and said, "That's my boy up there. Thank you. That's the man I raised."
Are you going to the BAFTAs?
GREENBAUMI am. I'm very, very excited. I'm flying out with my wife. And sadly Harper and Will are at the SNL 50th [anniversary concert] that night.
STEELEI'll be partying down.
This story appeared in the Feb. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe .
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