Trans comedy writer Harper Steele took a road trip with Will Ferrell—their journey has the power to save lives
Saturday Night Live to his run of blockbuster hits, the funnyman has been cracking us up for the better part of the last 30 years.But, as the old saying that goes, “behind every great man is a great woman,” and it’d be wrong to praise Ferrell without also giving flowers to Harper Steele, his long-time comedy partner and friend.To be fair, Steele’s might not necessarily be a name you recognize yet, but she’s been the brains behind some of Ferrell’s most brilliantly batty work, ever since they first started working together on SNL in 1995.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Will Ferrell as an Icelandic pop star in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga?
Steele wrote that! Ferrell as a megalomaniac auteur in the sweeping melodrama parody The Spoils Of Babylon? Yup, that too! Ferrell and Kristen Wiig in deadly serious Lifetime movie A Deadly Adoption?
Of course Steele was behind it!Over their years of collaborating, Steele has pushed Ferrell to take some of his biggest and boldest comedic risks.
But now she’s asking the actor to accompany her on the biggest and boldest journey of her life: Taking her first cross-country trip as an out trans woman and introducing the world to Harper Steele in her powerful new documentary, Will & Harper.Born and raised in Iowa City in the ‘60s, Steele followed her lifelong passion for writing all the way to New York City, where she cut her teeth on scripts for the animated series Doug and MTV’s The Daily Show pre-cursor The Jon Stewart Show.Eventually, those opportunities opened the door to SNL, where Steele worked for over 13 years, serving as co-head writer for her last four seasons alongside the likes of Tina Fey and Seth Meyers.
