I don’t think it’s far-fetched to assume that if you are making a comedy, and Will Ferrell asks to be in it, your answer would be an enthusiastic yes. Considering he is one of Lorne Michaels' top SNL alums and Ferrell’s movies are legendary, having him in your comedy would be incredible. Jen D'Angelo, the writer and producer of the new comedy Quiz Lady, got to live this out firsthand, because the actor sent her an email asking to be in the Hulu film. Not only was this one of the best messages she’d received in her career, but it also helped out the film as she told me during an interview for CinemaBlend.
Ferrell’s production company, Gloria Sanchez Productions, was working on Quiz Lady, a comedy about two sisters, played by Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, who decide to try out for a game show to pay off a debt. When it came to casting the other roles, Jen D'Angelo said the SNL alum put himself up for the part of Terry McTeer, the game show host, after being involved with the film from a producing standpoint for a while. On top of the Elf star being a top-tier comedian, he also has experience playing game show hosts because of his days in Studio 8H, which made him the perfect choice.
Ferrell’s production company, Gloria Sanchez Productions, was working on Quiz Lady, a comedy about two sisters, played by Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, who decide to try out for a game show to pay off a debt. When it came to casting the other roles, Jen D'Angelo said the SNL alum put himself up for the part of Terry McTeer, the game show host, after being involved with the film from a producing standpoint for a while. On top of the Elf star being a top-tier comedian, he also has experience playing game show hosts because of his days in Studio 8H, which made him the perfect choice.
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00:00 I was also curious about casting Will Ferrell in the movie.
00:03 I know his production company is also attached to the film,
00:05 but what was it like having him for you to step in and play
00:09 this really wholesome game show host?
00:11 That also reminded me a lot of his time on Celebrity Jeopardy
00:15 on SNL.
00:15 So it was fun to see that.
00:17 I know.
00:18 I was raised on those SNL Celebrity Jeopardy sketches.
00:22 I feel like that was my first favorite comedy.
00:27 So it was so cool to see that.
00:29 And yeah, that was, I would say, of the three best emails
00:34 I've gotten in my entire career.
00:36 One was, hey, do you want to come pitch on Hocus Pocus 2?
00:39 One was, hey, Awkwafina read the script
00:42 and wants to talk to you about it.
00:43 She really likes it.
00:44 And the third was--
00:45 I guess the third was Sandra.
00:47 And then the fourth was when Will was like--
00:51 because he was already attached as a producer,
00:53 and he had been involved with the script
00:55 for a while with Gloria Sanchez and Jessica Elbaum,
00:58 his production company.
00:59 And when he just sort of--
01:02 he brought it up, where he was like, hey,
01:04 I think I'd be interested in playing Terry.
01:07 And that was just the most incredible news of all time,
01:11 because he really is--
01:13 he is my Terry McTeer.
01:16 Will Ferrell is the person I grew up watching,
01:19 and he's just so funny and so lovely.
01:21 And so to see him step into that role was incredible.
01:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]