Will Ferrell and Harper Steele Say Their Road Trip Doc Is About Friends ‘Coming Together’ in ‘Change or Crisis’

In their documentary “Will & Harper,” the lifelong friends go on a cross-country road journey, which, according to Ferrell, makes him cry “every single time” he watches it.

More details about the friendship-fueled cross-country road journey that Will Ferrell and Harper Steele chronicled in Will & Harper are being revealed.

After seeing their new documentary, directed by Josh Greenbaum, at the Telluride Film Festival on Saturday, August 31, Ferrell, 57, and Steele, 63, who first met on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s, talked candidly about the moving movie, which follows the lifelong friends’ first trip together after Steele comes out as transgender.

Onstage, Steele revealed that Ferrell’s original idea for the 16-day trip was not meant to be a portrayal of the trans experience, but rather a movie about how “friends should come together” in times of “moments of change or crisis.”

“I will say just as a trans woman, I don’t think this is a representation of a trans woman walking through the world in either red states America, [or] really anywhere because they don’t have a camera, they don’t have Will Ferrell,” she remarked.

“We were very aware of that,” Steele said. In my opinion, the movie is really more about how friends should support one another through any difficult times—not only transgender ones. And I believe [the movie] does a fantastic job at it.”

Ferrell also recognized that his presence gave their journey an air of notoriety. He laughed still, “Harper would constantly remind me that I’m a B level, I’ve fallen off of A, I’m struggling to stay a B level actor possibly dipping my toe to the C level.”

More importantly, he claimed that meaningful connections emerged organically “once that kind of melted away” with people they meet at racetracks and dive bars. “What are you guys doing, everyone was asking? Then we got down to business and had a meaningful conversation,” he remarked.

Additionally, the two discussed their thoughts on watching the documentary with the Telluride audience. Harper conceded that seeing the movie again is “not easy,” given that she shares her emotional journey with the audience throughout.

Ferrell continued, saying, “I cry every single time I see that. I’ve got my Kleenex here,” the person said, describing the documentary as “one of my favorite things I’ve ever had the opportunity to work on.”

The film’s official summary is as follows: “When Will Ferrell’s good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.” The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will be available for streaming on Netflix the following month.