Saturday Night Live
Beloved doer and comic Will Ferrell joinedSaturday Night Livein 1995 and stayed on for seven years , at last leaving in 2002 — but why did he settle to walk away?Saturday Night Liveis improbably celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this class after catch its kickoff on NBC in 1975 , make water it one ofthe longest - running show of all clock time . Saturday Night Livehas certainly had its ups and downs over the years , and public popular opinion about the show continues to be complex , but its impressive legacy is undeniable .
This is no doubt in part why Peacock just released the docuseriesSNL50 : Beyond Saturday Night , one of multiplespecials aboutSNL’s50th day of remembrance , chart the extended history of the show . One affair the docuseries do percipient is Will Ferrell ’s success on the show , which was evident from the beginning . In fact , Ferrell ’s audition fabric was used in a sketch for his very first show , proving how outstanding Ferrell was from the beginning . If Will Ferrell was such a bang onSaturday Night Live , though , why did he leave alone after seven years ?
Will Ferrell Felt It Was The Right Time To Leave & Build On The Momentum Of His Popularity For His Film Career
Will Ferrell Was Likely Right To Make This Decision
Although many were pitiful to see Will Ferrell go ( Maya Rudolph and Jimmy Fallon reportedly cried when he left , not to cite the audience responses),leavingSaturday Night Livewas an intentional career move by Ferrell . According toThe Wall Street Journal , Ferrell explain :
" I was creep up on my seventh season , and it was just palpate like , for good or for worse , a good time to go . It was a mix of chilling and ‘ No , this is the right metre . ’ I do n’t get it on why . Because there really was n’t a pile of scripts hold back for me . It was more like , ' I ’m doing well from the show . I ’m fairly well - known . allow ’s use this momentum to try . ' "
Will Ferrell is far from the only formerSaturday Night Livecast member to have build a tremendously successful performing career after leaving the show . Among some of the others are Robert Downey Jr. , Adam Sandler , Kristen Wiig , and Eddie Murphy , to name just a few , all of whom had stints of depart lengths on the show . It seems this plan paid off , asWill Ferrell ’s life history really took off after he made the leap and decide to leaveSaturday Night Live .
Will Ferrell is one of the funniest actors of his generation , and he has starred in stack of hilarious comedy picture show since his SNL day .
Will Ferrell Didn’t Become A Huge Movie Star Until After He Left SNL
SNL Was Only The Beginning For Will Ferrell
As Will Ferrell explained in his interview withThe Wall Street Journal , when he made the decision to walk away fromSaturday Night Live , it was n’t because he had a ton of crack coming his way . Yes , he had gained plenty of ill fame from the show , and he had a turn of successful roles before his departure — includingZoolander(2001 ) , which remains one of Ferrell ’s most pop movies to escort . However , he was not yet the mega virtuoso he would ultimately become .
After he leftSaturday Night Live , Will Ferrell ’s vocation thrive to an entirely new degree . In the years immediately following the oddment of Ferrell ’s metre onSNL , he appear in some of the most significant movie of his life history , includingAnchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy(2004),Elf(2003),Old School(2003 ) , andTalladega Nights : The Ballad of Ricky Bobby(2006 ) . It ’s of course of instruction impossible to say with sure thing what Ferrell ’s life history would have front like had he not leftSNL , but it ’s clear that this career choice worked out for him .
In the age immediately following the end of Ferrell ’s sentence onSNL , he appeared in some of the most significant movies of his career .
Custom Image by Simone Ashmoore
What Lorne Michaels Has Said About Will Ferrell’s SNL Legacy
Michaels Considers Ferrell Among The Top Two Or Three Ever On The Show
Although he ultimately walked out fromSaturday Night Liveand more exclusively go after an acting career , Will Ferrell remains one of the most beloved form members fromSNL’s50 - class history . Several of his sketch , include " More Cowbell , " which was very prominently sport inSNL50 : Beyond Saturday Night(one of only four sequence in the docuseries was entirely dedicated to that sketch ) , are among the most pop to appointment . In fact , many consider thisthe bestSNLskit of all time .
Jehovah and producer ofSaturday Night LiveLorne Michaels seems to consort with the judgement of Will Ferrell as one of the bestSaturday Night Livecast fellow member . PerThe Hollywood Reporter , of Ferrell ’s role on the show , Michaels said :
“ I never rank , but Will ’s unquestionably in the top two or three that have ever done the show … There ’s no question . ”
This is unbelievably high praise , peculiarly issue forth from Michaels , and it only further goes to show what an huge impact Ferrell had in his seven years on the show .
Will Ferrell ’s release was very likely a loss forSaturday Night Live , not only in term of viewership but also because it ’s light many of the mould and crew enjoyed working with him . Even so , this career move meant that Ferrell was able to sharpen more fully on his acting career , fetch audiences eccentric like Brennan Huff inStep Brothersand , much more of late , the Mattel CEO in the 2023 smash - hitBarbie — and so many in between . Long after his seven - class run onSaturday Night Live , Will Ferrell ’s impact on the show and his massive achiever later on are both clear .
