My mother started off this week by sending me a video of Oprah Winfrey’s life.
She meant it as inspirational, but the only truly inspirational moment I received from this message was that my mother had finally figured out how to navigate Facebook’s Messenger.
So, the video was a bust. Perhaps because housewives and the internet have been beating down Oprah Winfrey’s story to me since I was an adolescent.
A story I haven’t yet heard though is Will Ferrell’s.
Today I stumbled upon one of the greatest celebrity interviews I have seen to date. (Admittedly, late night talk shows are a guilty pleasure of mine.)
In the hopes of making your week a little bit brighter, I thought I’d share it with you.
The video is of a recent interview with Conan O’brien and Will Ferrell. There are several key ingredients which make this video a worthwhile watch.
For one, Will Ferrell’s face is painted like a tiger’s. His elaborate face painting during a television interview isn’t anything to gawk about. He’s known for his elaborate entrances and commitment to gimmicks while on a late night set. (Anyone remember the parrot, Professor Feathers?)
No, what makes Ferrell’s face painting substantially interesting is the artist’s choice of painting fangs on either side of Will’s mouth, which absolutely commits him to his role as feline. He actually looks like a kitty cat, no?
(‘Alice in Wonderland’ remake, I’m voting Will Ferrell as the Cheshire Cat.)
Second, Ferrell seamlessly peppers in the phrase ‘on a lark,’ which I believe deserves applause in and of itself.
However, what makes this video the most worthwhile watch of your week is that after we’ve gotten over the joking and face-painting shtick, there’s a real heartfelt message behind this interview.
Ferrell reveals to Conan that a figure of encouragement in Ferrell’s career path came not from a professor of his own, but through a friend’s.
In the video (attached below), Ferrell revisits a story only told to 2017’s graduating class at USC in which a college professor permitted Ferrell to an ongoing sketch, which interrupted this professor’s class on a monthly basis.
Now, an audience member could believe that this is another of Ferrell’s far-fetched tales, another gimmick, like Professor Feather or the tiger face-painting if not for Ferrell’s commitment to repeatedly say the professor’s full name lest anyone should overlook it.
Professor Ronald Gottesman.
Granted, Ferrell makes a joke of his testament that, “He was instrumental in kind of allowing me to be me,” by grabbing Conan’s and Andy Richter’s hands. However, anyone can see that Ferrell was not joking, and that this was a figure in his history to be remembered.
Like, Andy Richter says at the end of the clip, “God Bless Him,” and truly God bless anyone who encourages the different out there in our world, am I right?
Care to take a look? See it here: Will Ferrell’s College Janitor Prank.
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(Cover Image: Variety.)