Interview: Will Ferrell goes from bit parts to stardom

In a dozen years he's successfully morphed from a nobody who popped up in other comedians' films to the enduring star of his own movies, which boast a particular brand of dumb-ass comedy.

And it doesn't really matter if he's something of an acquired taste because, over time, he's evolved a style and personality that makes him the companion of choice for everyone from Ben Stiller to Woody Allen.

In Megamind he grabbed the opportunity to attempt only his second animated adventure. His previous outing, as the Man in the Yellow Hat in 2006's Curious George, had not left him with any real desire to step up and voice another.

Yet Ferrell's reputation has been built largely on his facility for creating voices, an art he began practising long before he had his first taste of the Hollywood spotlight. As a student he made daily morning announcements in a series of disguised voices – a knack that propelled him to take performing seriously as a career.

He joined The Groundlings, an LA-based comedy/improvisation troupe. There followed a seven-year stint on Saturday Night Live, the training ground for many a US comedian and where Ferrell made a name for himself with impersonations of everyone from George W Bush to Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro. The show served as his apprenticeship after which he segued into the movies. He's never looked back.

Despite appearances to the contrary, in the past he has declared that he's not an exhibitionist, insisting that he's drawn to outrageous stuff simply "because it's fun". He's also on record as saying "There's just something about yelling that's funny to me". No alchemy, then, to Ferrell's comedy...

At 43, Ferrell is established, popular and a totally grounded married father-of-three who regularly receives a $20m pay cheque. His realistic approach to showbiz and the vagaries of fame may have something to do with his father, Lee, a long-time musician for The Righteous Brothers.

Ferrell may have grown up in California suburbia, but by the time he had decided to give comedy a go he was well aware of the pitfalls of showbusiness where stars are made one minute and destroyed the next

"I pretty much got a first-hand view of the ups and downs of a life in this business (from my father]. When I first said to him, 'I'm going to take a run at this,' he said, 'Okay. Just know that there is a certain amount of luck involved. If it was all about talent, I wouldn't worry about you, you'd be fine, but it's luck. And if you find yourself going down the road and it's just not working, it's okay to find something else.'

"You know, it took the pressure off, and I didn't take it quite so seriously. After I graduated from college, I decided to give it a shot and, somehow, it worked."

Ferrell's early career saw him gaining experience on a variety of television shows as well as the odd uncredited bit part in movies like The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, starring the late Leslie Nielsen.

He scored in support to Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and its first sequel and from then on continued picking up nifty little jobs around a new Hollywood Frat Pack that included Kevin Smith, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughan and Owen Wilson.

The likes of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Starsky and Hutch brought Ferell's comic talents to an international audience. Successfully carving out a comic niche, there were other, perhaps more interesting choices in the mix

Being hired by Woody Allen for Melinda and Melinda, and playing Robert Duvall's son in Kicking and Screaming, only served to consolidate his reputation and cement his seeming versatility.

Surely it was only a matter of time before some smart producer nabbed Ferrell to headline one of those big, star-studded studio animations that every big star these days seems to get to add to their rsum. That producer was Jeffrey Katzenberg, one third of the behemoth (with David Geffen and Steven Spielberg) that is DreamWorks.

The company had previously scored successes with Chicken Run and Madagascar and the tasty carrot was director Tom McGrath's promise of the freedom for Ferrell to do his own thing, to exercise his talent for improvisation and the chance to share screen time with Brad Pitt – even though they never once occupied the same recording studio.

"Tom and Jeffrey pitched the whole concept," he recalls. "It's mostly a new thing for me, because I've only done one animated film before.

"I hadn't done anything else since because I was fairly ambivalent to the whole genre. So we met and started playing around with the voice. That's what I liked about the character – it turns the whole superhero notion on its head. My guy is the villain, but really, he's not.

"It was a great cast – a really cool, eclectic mix. Tina Fey is one of the funniest people you will ever be around. Jonah Hill is so unique with what he does, and I don't think Brad Pitt has ever done anything like this. Getting all of us together sounded really interesting. I had a great time."

It would be easy, simplistic and inaccurate to assume that Ferrell did Megamind with his children in mind. His sons are six, four and 10 months. His answer underlines his approach to the job.

"You know, I've been asked if the fact that I have family influences what I do. Whether it's good or not, I'm still not governed by that in any way. I still do what I think is funny and what interests me,"

he says.

"Some projects will be outrageous and other things won't.

"This was about the project, the work – the opportunity to do a very well thought-out animated film, and do it the right way. But, when I saw some rough footage, I did think, 'My sons are going to love this...'"

UPS AND DOWNS OF GETTING TO THE TOP

Ferrell became the highest paid cast member of Saturday Night Live with a reported season salary of $350,000.

It's not all been plain sailing, his 2009 film Land of the Lost was an expensive flop.

As well as being a fan of American football, Ferrell is also a Chelsea supporter.

In 2006, a website reported Ferrell had died in a paragliding accident, a claim that was quickly retracted when the actor proved he was alive and kicking.

He is married to Swedish actress Viveca Paulin. The couple and their three children have homes in both New York and California.

Megamind (PG) is on nationwide release.