Get the latest gossip

Will Ferrell Recalls Being 'So Embarrassed' by His Real Name Growing Up: 'It Wasn't My Choice'

While Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate discussed the 20th anniversary of 2004's 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,' Ferrell brought up how he always felt embarrassed at school when teachers would call him by his legal name, John, rather than Will, which he always went by instead.

After Applegate asked Ferrell, who rose to fame as a Saturday Night Live cast member in the 1990s, whether he always liked being part of groups growing up, he recalled that he felt "being funny was an easy way to make friends" as a kid before bringing up his real name. Ferrell starred as anchorman Ron Burgundy, while Applegate portrays Veronica Corningstone, a new addition to the team and eventual love interest. "At the end of the day, Christina just checked all the boxes — between funny, smart, tough, because we needed Veronica to stand up to these doofuses, and she was the smartest person in the room," Ferrell said of casting Applegate in the movie elsewhere during the podcast.

Get the Android app