Will Ferrell has revealed why his real name was a source of so much embarrassment growing up.
The legendary comic actor, 56, was born John William Ferrell, but his parents called him ‘Will’ throughout his childhood.
However, the memory of having to awkwardly correct his teachers on the first day of school has stayed with Ferrell to this day.
During an appearance on Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s podcast MessyFerrell revealed how torturous it was for him to tell his teachers that he actually used ‘Will’ every time they called his legal name during roll call.
“It’s a minor thing, it’s not even a trauma, but I remember feeling very embarrassed because my real name is John, John William Ferrell, so the first day of school they would call me John,” explained the actor, who will star in the upcoming film You’re Cordially Invited. “The teacher would be like, ‘John Ferrell?’ and it was very embarrassing for me to have to say, ‘Look, but they call me Will, not John.'”
Will Ferrell has revealed why his real name caused him so much embarrassment as a child; pictured here in 2023
The name issue would continue for the rest of the first week, which Ferrell called “unbearable.”
“During the first week of school, it was like a week before the teacher remembered, ‘That’s right, you’re Will.’ And that was excruciating,” he explained. “So the beginning of the school year was always like, ‘Oh my God, I hate this. I have to remind the teacher that I’m not John.'”
“It wasn’t my choice,” Ferrell said when Sigler asked him why he didn’t like the name John. “My parents named me John, but they called me Will. I grew up as Will, but according to the rules, my legal name is John Ferrell.”
Ferrell couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he found it so embarrassing, but the memory clearly stuck with him.
“I don’t know why I found it so embarrassing to have to explain, ‘I’m actually Will,'” he recalled.
“People will probably hear this and say, ‘That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen,'” Ferrell added.
“We just lost someone named John,” Applegate replied.
During the interview, Ferrell also mentioned his 2004 comedy, Anchorman, in which he starred alongside Applegate.
A young Ferrell in an undated yearbook photo
Ferrell also praised Christina Applegate’s portrayal of news anchor Veronica Corningstone in Anchorman (pictured in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues).
Praising Applegate’s portrayal of news anchor Veronica Corningstone, Ferrell said: “At the end of the day, Christina just ticked all the boxes: funny, smart and tough, because we needed Veronica to stand up to these fools, and she was the smartest person in the room.”
Fans can currently see the legendary actor in the new animated film Despicable Me 4.
Outside of his showbiz career, Ferrell is also a father to three sons — he shares sons Magnus, 20, Mattias, 17, and Axel, 14, with his wife of nearly 24 years, Viveca Paulin.
The actor has already spoken openly about fatherhood over the years.
Speaking about raising children, she said: People in 2017: ‘There is usually a lot of volume in the house.
Ferrell with his mother Betty Kay Overman, his wife Viveca Paulin and two of his three sons, Magnus and Axel, at the premiere of Despicable Me 4
‘Whether they’re having a great time or losing their minds, they’re always screaming.’
He also joked about the simple way they like to organize parties.
“We’re in the season of birthday parties with a parting gift, a bouncy castle, jugglers and a live camel,” he said. “My wife and I are going in the opposite direction.”
‘We thought, ‘Guess what? We’re going to have a garden party. We’re going to run around and at a certain moment, the cake will come out. Will I get a parting gift? Yes, a handshake.’