I'M NOT TRYING TO EXPLOIT OUR FRIENDSHIP," Will Ferrell says to Harper Steele, his longtime collaborator. "I'm not trying to exploit your exciting, wonderful, joyous news." His tone isn't defensive; Steele, sitting beside him, smiles at this echo of a conversation they've obviously had many times before. Really, Ferrell is answering my question: when one of your closest mates comes out to you as a transgender woman, how do you end up making a film about it? The film in question, Will & Harper, is not a typical one for Ferrell, best known for his goofball antics in the likes of Anchorman, Zoolander and last year's megahit Barbie. It's a Netflix documentary, and one in which Ferrell, albeit on screen throughout, isn't quite the focal point. That would be Steele, former head writer of Saturday Night Live (SNL), and close friends with the actor since they both started work on the long-running sketch TV show in 1995. Two years ago, aged 61, she wrote to Ferrell with some news: after a lifetime of unspoken gender dysphoria, she was transitioning to become the woman she was always meant to be.
Ferrell was immediately supportive; he also had a lot of questions. Such conversations aren't best had from opposite coasts: the actor, a born-and-bred Californian, was based in Los Angeles, while Steele was back in New York.
What about a cross-country road trip, Ferrell suggested, where they could talk things through in their own time? And what if they filmed it too? For a few months, Steele ruled it out. "I don't like being on camera, so my initial decision was just based on that," she explains. "But transitioning is a process, and so I started to feel a little more comfortable with who I was. And the fact is, there was a lot of legislation and bills being introduced across America that were very damaging to my community.
Denne historien er fra October 04, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra October 04, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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The Saudi football World Cup is an act of violence and disdain
Well, that's that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa's extraordinary virtual congress last week to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 football World Cups.
AI has made the move into video and it's worryingly plausible
I recently had the opportunity to see a demo of Sora, OpenAI's video generation tool, which was released in the US last Monday, and it was so impressive it made me worried for the future.
With tyrant Assad ousted, Syrians deserve support and hope
Last week, time collapsed. Bashar al-Assad's fall recalled scenes across the region from the start of the Arab spring almost 14 years ago. Suddenly history felt vivid, its memories sharpened. In fact it no longer felt like history.
TV
The Guardian Weekly team reveals our small-screen picks of the year, from the underground vaults of post-apocalyptic Fallout to the mile-high escapism of Rivals
Albums
Murky love stories, nostalgic pop and an in-your-face masterpiece captured our critics' ears in 2024
Film
Visual language, sound, light and rhythm are to the fore in the best movies of the year
Hidden delights Our 24 travel finds of 2024
Guardian travel writers share their discoveries of the year, from Læsø to Lazio
'It's really a disaster' The fight to save lives as gang war consumes capital
Dr James Gana stepped out on to the balcony of his hospital overlooking a city under siege. \"There's a sensation of 'What's next?'. Desperation is definitely present,\" the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medic said, as he stared down at one of scores of camps for displaced Haitians in their country's violence-plagued capital.
Trailblazers The inspiring people we met around the world this year
From an exuberant mountaineer to a woman defiantly facing the guns of war, here are some of the brave individuals who gave us hope in a tumultuous 2024
Votes of confidence
From India to Venezuela and Senegal to the US, more people voted this year than ever before, with over 80 elections across the world. With rising authoritarianism and citizen-led resistance revealing its vulnerabilities and resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges, has democracy reached its breaking or turning point?
