Will Ferrell reveals his real name 'embarrassed' him, shares 'excruciating' school story
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Comedic genius Will Ferrell opened up about his birth name and the embarrassing story behind it.
The ‘Old School’ actor appeared on Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler's 'MeSsy' podcast on Tuesday, July 9, and talked about their classic ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,’ while celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Will Ferrell reveals his birth name is John William Ferrell
The 'Zoolander' actor admitted that being funny helped him make friends easily as a child, but there were a few times he felt "embarrassed" too.
"This is a minor thing in terms of — it's not really even trauma — but I remember feeling so embarrassed because my real name is John, John William Ferrell, so first day of school, I'd be John. The teacher would be like 'John Ferrell?' and it was so embarrassing to me to have to say 'Here, but I go by Will, I don't go by John,'" recalled Ferrell, per People.
Ferrell confessed that he often had to wait through the first week of school before his teachers got used to him being Will, and called it "excruciating to me."
"It wasn't my choice. My parents named [me] John but they called me Will. I grew up as Will, but on a rule sheet, my legal name is John Ferrell."
"I don't know why that was so embarrassing to me to have to explain 'I'm actually Will,'" he shared, referring to all the explaining he did to other children each school year.
"People are probably going to be listening to this going 'That is the lamest thing ever,'" Ferrell joked, to which Applegate responded, "We just lost anyone named John."
Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate celebrate 20th anniversary of 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'
Will Ferrell co-starred with Christina Applegate in the 2004 hit movie 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'.
"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.
