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Will Ferrell hits the road with trans friend in Sundance documentary

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Agence France-Presse

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Ferrell taking a road trip across the United States with his buddy might sound like stock comedy fare, but the &quot;Anchorman&quot; star&#x27;s latest project is an emotional documentary about gender transition.</p><p>&quot;Will &amp; Harper,&quot; which premiered at the Sundance film festival Monday, follows Ferrell and &quot;Saturday Night Live&quot; writer Harper Steele as they travel through America&#x27;s heartland, discussing her journey as a trans woman.</p><p>&quot;We were discussing that, as a trans woman, she might feel differently going to places that she wouldn&#x27;t have thought twice about as her former self, and that&#x27;s how the idea came about,&quot; Ferrell told AFP.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve never been on one of her famous road trips. So I pitched her the idea, &#x27;let&#x27;s go on the road, and let&#x27;s discuss your transition, let&#x27;s discuss what it means for our friendship, it gives me a chance to ask all these questions that I have.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>The resulting odyssey takes them through conservative bastions of the United States, stopping at seedy dive bars and a stock car race.</p><p>Though punctuated with moments of comedy, the movie contains plenty of raw emotion and even scenes of peril.</p><p>&quot;I guess I feel like I let you down... we&#x27;ve got to worry about Harper&#x27;s safety,&quot; sobs Ferrell after one attempt to interact humorously with locals in a Texan town takes a dark turn.</p><p>But the main focus is on the conversations between the friends of 30 years.</p><p>Much of the film is occupied by Ferrell asking -- sometimes nervously -- about Steele&#x27;s decades of feeling she had to repress her identity, as well as the practicalities of transitioning.</p><p>The movie drew lengthy standing ovations at its Monday world premiere. Like most films at the Utah-based indie festival, it does not yet have a distributor.</p><p>Steele expressed hope that Ferrell&#x27;s presence in the documentary could help to change minds at a time when LGBTQ rights are under fire across large parts of the United States.</p><p>At the time of filming, &quot;a lot of bills were being passed all over the country. It is still quite awful. It&#x27;s ramping up,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;So I have this friend who had made movies that appeal very broadly to a lot of people. And that was the deciding factor.</p><p>&quot;It was like, &#x27;Oh, I can abuse this relationship,&quot; she joked.</p><div><strong>&#x27;For a documentary?&#x27; </strong></div><p>Asked what he thought his friend had learned about him, Ferrell added: &quot;I think Harper learned that I&#x27;m not a very good or safe driver.&quot;</p><p>But the film also displays Steele&#x27;s own anxiety to know if and how their friendship might change as a result of her transition.</p><p>&quot;When you have a cis friend who learns that you&#x27;ve transitioned, you can&#x27;t get in their heads, you don&#x27;t know how they&#x27;re thinking about it,&quot; she told AFP. &quot;The film, in my opinion, demonstrates Will&#x27;s transition to fully understanding who I am. I think by the time we get to the end, he&#x27;s got a pretty good idea.&quot;</p><p>Introducing the film on Monday, Ferrell feigned astonishment to see a packed auditorium &quot;for a documentary?&quot;</p><p>&quot;When Harper and I set out on the road for 17 days to film this discussion about what it means to be trans and what it means for a friendship, we didn&#x27;t think we&#x27;d be at Sundance,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;And if we were going to be at Sundance, we thought we&#x27;d be the 10 a.m. screening in someone&#x27;s garage on an iPhone.&quot;</p><p>The Sundance film festival runs until Sunday.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

'Will & Harper' follows Will Ferrell and 'Saturday Night Live' writer Harper Steele as they travel through America's heartland, discussing her journey as a trans woman.