WILL FERRELL AND HARPER STEELE'S 30-YEAR FRIENDSHIP - TWO FOR THE ROAD

THEY MET ON SNL AND FORGED A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP. NOW, WITH THEIR CROSS-COUNTRY DOCUMENTARY, THEY'VE CREATED A LIFE-CHANGING FILM

- JASON SHEELER

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele started working on Saturday Night Live the same week in 1995. They immediately hit it off—a match made in comedy heaven. Steele helped Ferrell create some of his most iconic characters and sketches, including Ferrell as crooner Robert Goulet. Ferrell, of course, would go on to become Movie Star Will Ferrell; Steele became head writer of SNL. Both would welcome children, and the duo remained best friends. Two years ago Steele wrote him a letter: She was coming out as a trans woman.

Ferrell, 55, had an idea. Steele, 62, had always loved driving across the country, so her friend made a suggestion: "Let's do it together."

Soon it evolved into something a bit more ambitious: "We thought, 'Well, why not film it? Because if we catch lightning in a bottle, maybe this could be helpful to someone else,"" recalls Ferrell. The result is the powerful new documentary Will & Harper, filmed over a 17-day road trip and now in theaters and on Netflix.

Harper, you say in the film, "I love this country. I just don't know if it loves me." Having now driven from New York to California, do you have a clearer answer?