Will Ferrell Distances Himself From Previous 'SNL' Drag Sketches

Will Ferrell says he is hanging up doing drag in an interview with the New York Times podcast, "The Interview."

Ferrell frequently donned drag in his "Saturday Night Live" days, specifically in an ongoing sketch parodying the former Attorney General Janet Reno called "Janet Reno's Fantasies" in Season 23 of the long running show.

However, "That's something I wouldn't choose to do now," said Ferrell, as he noted that the character "hits a false note now."

His thoughts, however, bummed out his longtime friend and former "SNL" head writer Harper Steele.

"I understand the laugh is a drag laugh. It's, 'Hey, look at this guy in a dress, and that's funny.' It's absolutely not funny," said Steele. "It's absolutely a way that we should be able to live in the world. However, with performers and actors, I do like a sense of play."

Steele, who came out as transgender 2022, added, "This is an interesting question to me ... Do queer people like 'The Birdcage,' or do they not? Robin Williams, at least as far as we know, was not a gay man, and yet he spent about half of his comedy career doing a swishy gay guy on camera." 

She continued, "Do people think that's funny, or is it just hurtful? I've heard from gay men that it was funny, and I've heard from gay men that it was hurtful. I am purple-haired woke, but I wonder if sometimes we take away the joy of playing when we take away some of the range that performers, especially comedy performers, can do."

About the times when he was done up in drag for "SNL," Ferrell playfully said he was just following orders.

"I mean, in a way, the cast – you're kind of given this assignment. So I'm going to blame the writers," the "Elf" actor said.

Steele funnily snapped back, "Yeah, he's not culpable at all."

But she also shared some regrets. "I wrote Monica Lewinsky stuff I wasn't proud of. I wrote some good Britney Spears stuff and some stuff that I'm not as proud of. I wrote some Clinton things I wasn't proud of. I'm just moving on. I have to."

Steele and Ferrell's friendship of 30 years is explored in the documentary "Will & Harper," which was bought by Netflix and premiered at Sundance earlier this year.

About Steele coming out, Ferrell told Variety at Sundance earlier this year, "Harper emailed a lot of her close friends with the headline: 'Here's a Weird One.'" He added, "She went on to explain she was going to transition, and we were all of course excited to hear the news and surprised to hear the news. All of us were extremely supportive and expressed love... but that sort of opened the questions like, how can we help you? What do you need us to do?"

Ferrell admitted that he had "zero knowledge" about the trans community before Harper came out.

"I had met trans people, but I didn't have anyone personally in my life," Ferrell said. "So this was all new territory for me, which is why I think this film is so exciting for us to kind of put out there in the world. It's a chance all of us in the cis community to be able to ask questions and also just to listen and be there as a friend to discuss this journey."

Look for "Will & Harper" on Sept. 27.