When you’re a comedy firestarter like actor Will Ferrell, you tend to land a lot of iconic quotes throughout your career. As a Saturday Night Live mainstay turned cinematic superstar, there’s nothing the man hasn’t said, and a lot of it is absolute gold. So to celebrate that fact, we’re about to run through 32 of the best moments from the funniest Will Ferrell movies and TV appearances the man has gifted the world.
“You stay classy, San Diego!” - Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
How do you not start with the line, and perhaps the role, that made Will Ferrell box office gold? The legendary sign off for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’s iconic news anchor, it’s probably the first thing you thought of when reading the name of this rundown. Which just goes to show that 60% of the time, it works every time.
“Get off the shed!” - Saturday Night Live
While any variant of SNL’s “Get Off the Shed” sketches works like a charm, perhaps the best example of this line really playing is in the “Birthday Party” installment. Hearing Frank Henderson (Will Ferrell) and his wife Gail (Christine Baranski) both one-upping each other with horrific threats to their off-screen children is pure unhinged fun.
"You’re my boy, Blue!"- Old School
Oh, Frank the Tank. Old School’s mild-mannered husband turned total frat boy went on quite the journey. And one of the people that made it all worthwhile in the end was Joseph “Blue” Pulaski (Patrick Cranshaw). A spirited pledge in the burgeoning fraternity at the heart of the movie, Will Ferrell’s character would even tearfully reprise this catchphrase, after singing “Dust in the Wind” at his funeral.
"Ergo! Vis-a-vis! Concordantly!" - The 2003 MTV Movie Awards
Will Ferrell’s best moments don’t always come from an expected source. The 2003 MTV Movie Awards had the best example of such a surprise, as Ferrell’s send-up of The Matrix Trilogy’s Architect had him angrily spouting words that felt right at home in the philosophical action/adventure. Which, of course, was good for some prime laughs.
“If you ain’t first, you’re last.” - Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
How iconic is Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby? It’s so memorable that it’s not only a Christopher Nolan “remote drop” favorite, but the man actually threw out this exact line during an interview on The Rich Eisen Show. When the director of Oppenheimer can quote your comedic opus, that is a sign that you’ve made it.
“Augh! Make it stop! Make it stop, Jimmy!” - Saturday Night Live
Jim Carrey’s 1996 hosting gig on Saturday Night Live gave the world the beauty that is “Jimmy Tango’s Fat Busters.” This hysterical cry for help came after Will Ferrell’s infomercial participant tried to mess with the maestro; and lost in memorably horrific fashion.
“Did we just become best friends?” - Step Brothers
Step Brothers is so insanely quotable there’s a wide range of everything from lines you can quote in public to those moments you’d be best to reference among the adults in the room. The realization that Brennan (Will Ferrell) and Dale (John C. Reilly) have gone from enemies to pals definitely fits into the safer side of the spectrum, while being just as funny as the R-rated stuff.
“I am a strong man! Anyone in this office, take a run at me!” - Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live’s “Evil Boss” sketch is another case of a basic setup going wonderfully right. With Will Ferrell’s increasingly psychotic Mr. Tarkanian bullying his staff to no end, watching Pierce Brosnan’s job candidate trying to make sense of what’s going on is a delight. And a moment that seals the deal is when Tarkanian issues this direct challenge, leading to a very Anchorman-style instance of comedic violence.
“You sit on a throne of lies. You're a fake. You stink. You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa." - Elf
As much as Ferrell loves to play self-assured blowhards like Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy, the comedy vet can also do cute and cuddly rather well. Walking the line between both of those impulses is this quote from Elf, where Ferrell’s character Buddy challenges a mall Santa (Artie Lange) for pretending to be the man himself.
“If Bruce Dickinson wants more cowbell, we should probably give him more cowbell.” - Saturday Night Live
When Christopher Walken’s record exec asked for “More Cowbell” on Saturday Night Live, it felt like the beginning of a new era. The fictionalized account of creating the Blue Oyster Cult hit, “Don’t Fear The Reaper,” repeatedly allowed Ferrell’s faux band member, Gene Frenkle, to get crazier and more intense with his playing of that instrument.
“Hansel. So hot right now. Hansel.” - Zoolander
The villainous Mugato may be a man of evil aspirations, and sometimes few words, but wow does he make them work. Zoolander saw Will Ferrell’s evil fashion designer make the sort of clique-y speak of the catwalk a punchline that all of us could get behind, even with an unnecessary repetition of the very name on everyone’s lips.
“Before we begin the Double Jeopardy round, I’d like to ask our contestants again to please refrain from using ethnic slurs.” - Saturday Night Live
One of Ferrell’s most memorable SNL sketches has to be the fictional rounds of Celebrity Jeopardy, hosted by himself as the late Alex Trebek. With French Stewart (Jimmy Fallon), Burt Reynolds (Norm Macdonald), and frequent archnemesis Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond) competing in this round, we’ll let you guess who this warning specifically applied to.
“Women are at the foundation of this company! There was a female CEO in the 90s and then another one... at some point. So that's two right there!” - Barbie
As the fictional CEO of Mattel in director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, Will Ferrell got to deliver some of the sharper gags pointed towards the iconic toy’s actual corporate backers. Delivered with a dry and knowing wit, Ferrell took business fact and turned it into a moment where we could all laugh, even if it was tinged a bit with stinging truth.
“Hey! Would you eat the moon if it were made of ribs?” - Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live loves to find those impressionistic sweet spots that cast members like Will Ferrell can really dig into. So when it came to the sketch series “Space: The Infinite Frontier,” Ferrell’s mimicry of the late baseball broadcaster Harry Caray made hay out of such an opportunity. Landing an all-timer non-sequitur with guest Dr. Kent Wahler (Jeff Goldblum), Ferrell’s Harry asked this question that still has us wondering whenever we’re at our favorite barbeque joint.
“Ma! The Meatloaf!” - Wedding Crashers
Cameos are some of the best sources for memorable moments and lines in movies like Wedding Crashers. Considering this is the line most shouted at Will Ferrell by fans, that case becomes all the stronger in this particular scene. Also, the way that the man shouts for meatloaf is quite worthy of the attention it’s gotten.
“The bottom line is, can you go to bed at night knowing the decisions you have made. And I know I can. Partly because I'm a really good sleeper.” - You’re Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush
For years, Ferrell made people laugh with his impression of President George W. Bush on SNL. So it kind of felt natural for the man to bid a fond farewell to doing that impression with the play/HBO special You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush. As one would have expected, gems of satirical leadership like this one were present throughout, turning the show into a must see during its 2009 run.
"Oh, gosh. Those piercing eyes, like a velociraptor." - Daddy's Home 2
There are probably other descriptions of Mel Gibson’s eyes floating around on the internet today. However, none of them will beat the one that Will Ferrell’s Brad Whitaker utters when staring straight into them in Daddy’s Home 2. It was so memorable it actually made the second Daddy’s Home 2 trailer, which makes a lot of sense, as it’s one of the best gags of the film.
“Strategery.” - Saturday Night Live
It’s one word that was so iconic that according to an interview with Today, Ferrell had apparently tricked President Bush into thinking he’d coined the term “strategery.” Where that memorable invention actually originated was in the 2000 SNL sketch, “First Presidential Debate: Al Gore and George W. Bush.”
“No one knows what it means, but it's provocative...it gets the people going!” - Blades Of Glory
One of the keys to the Will Ferrell brand of comedic nonsense is displayed squarely in this quote from the ice-skating comedy Blades of Glory. As Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) is grilled by enemy turned partner Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) for why he’d choose “My Humps” as music for a skating routine, all he has to offer in his defense is this line, and this line only.
“Proud day for you and your family.” - Saturday Night Live
In his long running impression of the late Alex Trebek on SNL, Will Ferrell’s Celebrity Jeopardy! ringleader endured quite a bit of tomfoolery and plain ignorance from his contestants. In the match where Hilary Swank (Jimmy Fallon), Keanu Reeves (Tobey Maguire), and Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond) matched half-wits with the host, this dig was thrown at the former face of the James Bond movies after making a particularly crude joke in Final Jeopardy.
“SANTA! Oh my God! Santa, here?! I know him! I know him!” - Elf
Ferrell’s cute and cuddly side really fueled his portrayal of Buddy the Elf in Jon Favreau’s comedy classic, Elf. Arguably one of the best Christmas movies of all time, his excitement for the arrival of his North Pole boss is still shouted loud for all to hear whenever the calendar gets close to the holiday season.
“The Fuhrer wasn't a mousy little mama's boy! The Fuhrer was BUTCH!” - The Producers
What’s harder than stepping into the legendary role of Franz Liebkind in a musical remake of Mel Brooks’ The Producers? Try having to do so with the added pressure of singing and dancing. Will Ferrell aced every aspect of playing this demented Nazi playwright, dropping fantastic lines such as this while wowing the crowd with his vocal abilities.
“I’m in a glass case of emotion!” - Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
Nonsense, when delivered in the right tone, can start to make sense. Such is the nature of this Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy line, in which Will Ferrell gets to make noises that are so indescribable, they would count as entries on this list. That is, if there was any decipherable dialogue to speak of in those wails.
“I may already be dead, just not typed.” - Stranger Than Fiction
Testing his mettle as a romantic lead and comedic straight man, Marc Forster’s Stranger Than Fiction had Will Ferrell occupying a rather unique position. His protagonist, Harold Crick, a book character who randomly learns from his author (Emma Thompson) that he’s going to die, uses this adorable shorthand explanation to state his existential crisis; and the resulting delivery is funny but also a bit depressing.
“Shake and Bake!” - Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are one of the most legendary comedy teams in the modern world, even with a dud like Holmes & Watson on their collective resume. Talladega Nights nailed that into everyone’s minds with its success following Step Brothers, thanks to using the power of the racing duo of Cal Naughton Jr. (Reilly) and Ricky Bobby (Ferrell), whom you might know as “Shake and Bake!”
“Oh cinnamon and gravy.” - Saturday Night Live
Prepare yourself for an SNL sketch that pretty much broke its entire cast. With 2001’s “Gus Chiggins, Old Prospector,” Ferrell played a kooky old prospector hired to help our troops find Osama bin Laden. Seemingly lost for several years, the act was put on the official SNL YouTube page, and has become a fan favorite.
“Let's not downplay the fact that that is Stonewall Jackson’s ghost right there.” - Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
For a news anchor who’s supposedly clueless, Ron Burgundy does seem to have a good grip on highlighting properly absurd happenings. Case in point: before the newscaster brawl in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Ron points out the fact that Confederate general Stonewall Jackson (John C. Reilly) is part of the History Network faction. Sometimes Ron’s perception of events comes in handy after all.
“My Wife! Can’t! Have! Chick-on!” - Saturday Night Live
Will Ferrell’s SNL legacy isn’t only made up of his time as a cast member. In 2018’s farce “Reality Stars,” host Ferrell and then-cast member Cecily Strong play a vain pair of reality TV stars who return to their old neighborhood. Apparently, in the years since their departure, chicken has become a bit of a no-no.
“You pooped in the refrigerator? And you ate a whole wheel of cheese? How’d you do that? I’m not mad. That’s amazing.” - Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
Find yourself a friendship as pure as that of Ron Burgundy and Baxter, his noble canine friend. While the audience only hears barks, Anchorman’s protagonist understands the language of his best companion, and translates it into delirious clarity.
“Look, I couldn’t think of anything good. The truth is, we’ve misplaced your baby.” - Saturday Night Live
Part of the reason that the sketch “Dr. Beaman's Office: Test Results” works so well is that Ferrell’s delivery throughout is A+. But what really makes such an innocuous line a golden moment is how he, along with co-stars Molly Shannon and Chris Parnell, break so hard as it’s being deployed.
"We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup." - Elf
In reality, the four food groups that Elf’s North Pole helpers adhere to are a one way ticket to a doctor’s office. However, holiday magic seems to have kept Buddy alive and well after decades of playing it their way. This cutely hysterical punchline lands like a charm, as Ferrell delivers it with such reality.
“Our friend Barbara Her-nan-dez, is the top female archer in the Northeast Division.” - Saturday Night Live
A concept as simple as “The Love-ahs with Barbara and Dave” is one of the historically consistent sources of SNL excitement. Focused on Rachel Dratch and Will Ferrell’s absurdly comedic married couple, the enunciation in these sketches is what’s key to dialogue like this and something that sticks out.
Behold the talents of Will Ferrell and his comedy chops. Throughout the spectrum of subtle to insane, he's certainly hit every area on the map. And thanks to that dedication, we have the moments listed above to cherish forever, as we wait to see what's next.
