Quotes by Will Ferrell

A lot of people have gotten into comedy because of certain influences in their lives or events that were painful, and I really have wracked my brain to figure it out. I pretty much have had a normal childhood. Maybe it was too normal.

All you have in comedy, in general, is just going with your instincts. You can only hope that other people think that what you think is funny is funny. I don't have an answer but I just try to plough straight ahead.

I definitely wanted to leave Saturday Night Live at a time when I still enjoyed doing the show. I didn't have a supreme confidence that I would be immediately successful after leaving the show, but I just knew it was the right time to test myself and get out there and try other things.

I have only been funny about seventy four per cent of the time. Yes I think that is right. Seventy-four per cent of the time.

I think a lot of the instincts you have doing comedy are really the same for doing drama, in that it's essentially about listening. The way I approach comedy, is you have to commit to everything as if it's a dramatic role, meaning you play it straight.

I'd love to become like Bill Murray, who was so funny on Saturday Night Live and has gone on to do some of the landmark comedies people like. And then to add this whole other phase to his career with Lost in Translation and Rushmore. I always felt to be able to have something similar to that would be great.

It's rare that you get to actually cast the person that you are using as the type of actor you want for the role. So we talked about who could play Papa Elf, and we started saying someone like Bob Newhart would be perfect. When you actually get that person, it's truly a special thing.

James Caan told me at the end of filming 'Elf' that he had been waiting through the whole film for me to be funny - and I never was.

Often times I'm confronted with a quote that I don't remember saying. So, on one hand it's very flattering, it is just so surreal.

Saturday Night Live is such a comedy boot camp in a way, because you get to work with so many different people who come in to host the show and you get thrown into so many situations and learn how to think on your feet, so filmmaking actually feels slow, in a good way.

You always want to do a good job and hopefully, I won't be in something that looks and feels like I'm in over my head.