Will Ferrell recalls the first time Molly Shannon debuted Mary Catherine Gallagher on SNL
The Shrink Next Door star takes some time to flip through the SNL memory book
Under the radar comedian Will Ferrell—you may have heard of him—has carved out a lengthy career as a film actor, with titles such as Talladega Nights, Anchorman, Zoolander, Land Of The Lost, and Step Brothers. But did you know he was also a beloved member of Lorne Michael’s little late night sketch series Saturday Night Live? It’s true, it’s true.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ferrell walks through his lengthy career which began on stage at Saturday Night Live in 1995.
When recalling his favorite SNL memory, he manages to narrow it down to the exact moment he heard the audience break out in riotous laughter when Molly Shannon debuted her Mary Catherine Gallagher character. Shannon premiered Gallagher at a particularly tough time for the sketch show, and Ferrell says he found reassurance in this moment.
“And that was the first time I heard the audience really shriek, and I still get goosebumps thinking about it,” Ferrell says. “I just remember it being, like, ’Oh, wow, I think we might be OK here.’”
Shannon and Ferrell would later star in the 1999 spin-off film Superstar, all about the tree-kissing, finger-smelling, clumsy Catholic school girl Mary Catherine Gallagher. Ferrell co-starred as Gallagher’s dreamy school crush, Sky Corrigan, with fellow SNL alum Mark McKinney featured in a small role as a priest.
Ferrells also recalls when one critic called him “the most annoying newcomer” upon his entry into SNL in 1995. This only fueled his comedic fire, so much so he had the quote etched on a nameplate and hung on his office door.
“You have a choice with that stuff: to read it and believe it,” he says, “or to just laugh at it but also kind of dig in and go, ‘Oh, you hate me? You haven’t even begun to hate me.’ And that’s my competitive side, that, ‘Oh, just wait, I’m going to go at it even harder.’”
Ferrell’s next project is Apple TV+’s dark comedy series, The Shrink Next Door, in which psychiatrist Paul Rudd weasels his way into Ferrell’s life with the intent of exploiting him. The Shrink Next Door arrives to Apple TV+ on November 12.