Ron Burgundy’s back, thanks to Will Ferrell
FERRELL as Burgundy, “America’s most trusted and beloved TV anchor” Photo from imdb.com
LOS ANGELES – Ron Burgundy, “America’s most trusted and beloved television anchor,” is back, mustache and all, in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.” The dapper, polyester suit-clad stereotypical 1970s male chauvinist even came out with a memoir, “Let Me Off at the Top! My Classy Life & Other Musings,” on the cover of which he himself penned the blurb, “I Wrote a Hell of a Book!”
Ron devotes a whole chapter to his shellacked hair, his student days at Our Lady Queen of Chewbacca High School and other chapters with titles like “The Night I Made Love to Bruce Lee” and “What Kind of Breath Turns a Woman On?”
Will Ferrell, the droll actor behind San Diego’s bumbling TV newsman, recently sat down for an interview. In “Anchorman 2”—directed by Adam McKay and produced by Judd Apatow—Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson and the rest of the gang reprise their roles.
Below are excerpts from the chat:
Was there anything that Ron wore that was just so outrageous to you?
I think there were 55 wardrobe changes in this movie. It was another fun aspect of revisiting the character. Susan Matheson, our wardrobe designer, built all these three-piece suits.
I even pitched to her and Paramount that they should do a Ron Burgundy runway show for Fashion Week in New York because of all these originally made suits. We kind of mixed it up and Ron wore three-piece suits for most of the movie. There wasn’t anything that was so outrageous that we couldn’t use it.
IN A SCENE with Christina Applegate in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” Photo from imdb.com
Can you talk about Ron Burgundy going to Emerson College in Boston?
Well, Emerson College finally had the sense to name their school the Ron Burgundy School of Communication (they really did—for a day). So Ron visited them and accepted this dedication and spoke to the staff.
What kind of student were you?
I was not bad. 2.97 GPA.
How did you guys convince Harrison Ford to make a cameo without him seeing the first movie?
I think it was luck because we heard early on that we got Harrison Ford to play this part. We couldn’t believe it. Then Judd Apatow said to Adam McKay, “Have you talked to Harrison Ford yet?” Adam said, “No.” Judd said, “You might want to give him a call. Just say, ‘We are so excited to have you. We will see you next week.’ ” Adam called Harrison and he was like, “Thank God, I called.” Harrison had never seen the movie before and he was like, “So what are we doing? What’s going on here?”
I think in that phone call, Adam solidified the fact that Harrison was actually going to show up. I have a feeling it was possibly someone on Harrison’s team who was in our camp who said, “You should go do that.” But anyway, Harrison, of course, showed up. He was great and dealt with our crazy style of working, all the improv and the lines that we throw out. I think he had a pretty good time.
If Ron were around in these times, how do you think he would deal with Twitter?
I don’t think he could. He’d be a disaster with Twitter, probably always saying inappropriate things. And to actually fit it in a concise way, Ron’s Twitter feed would be cut in half constantly, whatever his messaging was. Yeah, I think he’d be horribly confused by the New Media.
Do you feel the pressure every time you walk into a room to make everyone laugh?
BOYS’ club in the news room (from left): Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell, David Koechner and Steve Carrell
I don’t. I am horribly agoraphobic (laughs). No, I have never put pressure on myself. It’s like anyone else— you have days where you feel energetic and outgoing. On other days when you are in a hurry and you have to go somewhere, you can’t say hello. I don’t really try to put pressure on myself to be on if I am meeting people. If I do feel that way (on), then great. It’s what I do professionally and it’s totally separate from how I live my life.
You have three boys so you must have a pretty loud household. Do they share your sense of humor?
The middle boy is the entertainer but his one move is to just pull his pants down (laughs). I don’t know if he got that from me or it’s just part of the genetics. The older boy is very serious. So they are kind of a range. But they are always loud.
Do you spend as much quality time with them as you possibly can?
It’s obviously the biggest, most important part of my life. Three or four months you are gone. So when I am off, I really try to leave that as family time. I enjoy doing the mundane things of taking them to soccer practice and just hanging out. It’s not that you are doing so much. You are just present. I think they just want to know. They may say “hi” to you for five minutes and then run off and not see you the rest of the day. I think they just want to know that you are around. It gives them that sense of stability.
The Winter Olympics are coming up in February. It’s a crying shame that USA hasn’t realized your potential on the ice because in “Blades of Glory” and “Anchorman 2,” your athleticism is obvious.
More specifically, the United States Olympic men’s figure skating team. They won’t give me a tryout. There’s just no question that I have the ability of an Olympic-caliber skater. Maybe I will get an at-large bid at the last second. You never know.
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