A journey of friendship and identity: The making of “Will & Harper”

A serendipitous beginning

“All five of us met at an orgy,” Harper Steele quips, gesturing to the core team behind the new Netflix documentary, Will & Harper. The film chronicles a transformative road trip she took with her best friend, Will Ferrell, after coming out as a trans woman. Ferrell, ever the comedian, adds, “We didn’t remember that we had met until much later. We’re like, wait — Acapulco?” His face contorts into a familiar suburban dad expression, a hallmark of his comedic style.

While the sex party is a joke, the connections among the team behind “Will & Harper” are deeply rooted in long-standing friendships, marriages, and artistic collaborations. This intricate web of relationships culminated in a film set to premiere in New York less than 24 hours after our meeting in a tiny green room above the Paris Theater. “This was a family affair,” Steele says. “We couldn’t have done something so personal in any other way.”

The bond between Steele and Ferrell

Steele and Ferrell’s friendship dates back to 1995 when they met at “Saturday Night Live.” Ferrell had just joined the ensemble, and Steele was hired as a writer. “We became best friends,” Steele recalls, smoothing out her dress. Their shared outlandish sensibility led Steele to write some of Ferrell’s most beloved sketches, including his portrayal of Robert Goulet as a pompous, whiskey-swilling crooner. After leaving the show, they continued to collaborate on quirky films like the Spanish-language telenovela parody Casa de mi Padre.

The production team: A network of connections

Jessica Elbaum, a producer of “Will & Harper” and co-founder of Ferrell’s company Gloria Sanchez Productions, joined Ferrell’s team 22 years ago as his assistant. She rose through the ranks to become a producer on many of his films. Elbaum’s marriage to Rafael Marmor, a film producer at Delirio Films, further extended the network. Marmor’s company has produced documentaries on figures like Magic Johnson and Dr. Ruth, many of which were directed by Josh Greenbaum. Ferrell and Elbaum tapped Greenbaum to direct Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, a 2020 Kristen Wiig comedy.

Marmor and Greenbaum’s friendship began in college at Cornell. “His older brother and I were roommates, and Josh was kind of the younger brother who visited all the time,” Marmor says. This intricate web of relationships proved invaluable for “Will & Harper,” a project that required a deeply personal touch.

The inception of “Will & Harper”

The idea for the documentary originated in 2021 when Steele sent a letter to her friends and family announcing her transition. Ferrell saw the potential for a film that could entertain and inform, especially in a time of increasing anti-trans legislation. “Her great love is cross-country road trips,” Ferrell says. “As a trans woman, she had to think about things differently, so I suggested we do this drive together. I could be her buffer and ask all the questions I had.”

Elbaum nominated Marmor to help produce the project, and Marmor suggested Greenbaum for his nonfiction background. “Steven Spielberg wanted to do it,” Ferrell jokes. “But then Josh came in, and we said, ‘Sorry, Steve.’”

Capturing the journey

Greenbaum earned Steele’s trust by promising to avoid the usual tropes of how cis people sometimes see trans people. “For my own comfort level, I needed to make sure we weren’t shooting a movie that’s like ‘Will has a trans friend, and that’s crazy!’” Steele says. Greenbaum embraced a no-sketches mantra, encouraging his subjects to reveal more of themselves. “It’s gonna be weird, and it’s going to take two days,” Greenbaum told them. “But after 48 hours, you will forget the cameras are there.”

Greenbaum aimed to capture Steele’s unique vision of America, focusing less on iconic landmarks and more on the beauty in the mundane. “Harper likes to pull out her lawn chairs and watch the sunset from a Walmart parking lot,” Greenbaum says. “I wanted to capture that.”

The road trip

Greenbaum strapped two cameras to the hood of Steele’s jeep and followed the pair for 16 days. They attended a Pacers game, a stock car race, relaxed in an Oklahoma dive bar, and went for a hot air balloon ride in New Mexico. The journey yielded nearly 240 hours of footage, showing Steele’s fellow Americans being unexpectedly welcoming in some cases and shockingly hostile in others. Greenbaum whittled it down to a manageable two hours, excising scenes like Ferrell using Steele’s CB trucker radio under the handle “California Kid.”

The film’s reception

“I was blown away by the finished film,” says Elbaum. “But I was also concerned about how Will and Harper would feel because they are so unguarded.” Both Steele and Ferrell loved the movie’s honesty, humor, and heart. At Sundance, where it debuted in January, it received multiple standing ovations and secured a distribution deal from Netflix. Being on the world’s biggest streaming service offers the friends a chance to spread their message of empathy and tolerance to a global audience.

“We’re hoping that the algorithm says, ‘If you’re a fan of ‘Holmes & Watson,’ why not watch ‘Will & Harper,’” Ferrell says. “No, ‘Ricky Bobby,’” Steele interjects. “Come on.”

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