Will Ferrell has once again responded to a long-standing rumor regarding his ties to the OJ Simpson trial.
In a recent podcast appearance, the comedian and actor shared more details about the time he and his comedy troupe performed a sketch show for the sequestered jurors, rather than a stand-up routine, as many people often speculate.
Will Ferrell denies doing stand-up at OJ Simpson trial
During the “Fact or Fiction” segment of Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson’s “All The Smoke” podcast, Will Ferrell discussed his unusual comedic performance for jurors involved in the OJ Simpson trial.
Ferrell explained that the show was not a stand-up routine, as many people often believe, but rather a sketch show that he performed with his colleagues.
“We were doing our sketch show back in the day, when the OJ jury was sequestered, and we felt so bad for, you know, this group of people who had just gone from their hotel to the courtroom that we did some good comedy in the courtroom,” Ferrell revealed, adding, “Not in the courtroom, but in a courtroom.”
Describing the experience as “surreal,” Ferrell also recalled how strange it seemed to him and his fellow comedians to appear in wigs and costumes while entertaining jurors.
Will Ferrell says jurors were ‘mildly entertained’
Early last year, Ferrell also recalled the performance during an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show.”
He admitted that the idea to present the sketch show did not come from him, but the group unanimously agreed to do it in order to “lighten the mood” of the jurors.
“It was just us and the jurors,” Ferrell recalled. “They seemed slightly amused, but it was very weird.”
In both instances where Ferrell discussed the performance, he did not reveal what types of sketches he and his colleagues presented to jurors.
Ferrell says comedy will always ‘ebb and flow’
As for what Ferrell thinks of the current comedy landscape, the comedian told Barnes and Jackson that he doesn’t spend a lot of time analyzing the state of the genre and explained why.
“I don’t really go into detail about analyzing comedy,” he said. “It’s always a thing that comes and goes in terms of people’s tastes and what people want to create.”
Ferrell said he was just focusing on his gut and hoping people connect with the results. Although he has achieved huge success in comedy, he admitted that he is sometimes still surprised by the career he has built.
“A lot of times what still strikes me today is the weird stuff that comes out of my brain,” he said. “One way or another, the majority of people thought it was funny.”
‘SNL’ taught Will Ferrell to trust his instincts
Much of Ferrell’s success as a comedian dates back to his time on “Saturday Night Live,” which debuted the same year he performed in front of the OJ Simpson jurors.
His seven-year tenure lasted until 2002, during which he became one of the show’s most beloved actors and earned an Emmy nomination in 2001.
Looking back on his time on “SNL,” Ferrell said the experience taught him to trust his instincts and avoid overthinking his ideas.
With a new sketch required every week, he learned to experiment, accept that some ideas fail, and quickly move on to the next one. He also credited this process with helping him develop confidence in his comedic style.
Actor returns to TV with Netflix’s ‘The Hawk’
On July 16, Ferrell added to his extensive catalog of comedy projects with a new Netflix series called “The Hawk.”
The project marks his first starring role in a TV comedy since 2021 and brings him back to the small screen after years of focusing primarily on film roles.
In the series, Ferrell plays Lonnie, a former world No. 1 golfer who dominated the sport in 2004. Despite his physical decline, Lonnie embarks on an ambitious comeback, determined to win one last major championship and prove he still has what it takes to compete at the highest level.
Speaking about the inspiration behind “The Hawk,” Ferrell said golf’s complicated hold on those who play it made the sport ideal material for a comedy series.
“The people who play it hate it as much as they love it,” the actor explained.
