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Live in LA with Will Ferrell, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara, Myles Garrett & Andrew Whitworth | EP 195
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Will Ferrell Interview: LA Life, Speedos, and Talladega Nights Origins
At 17:04 · chapter starts 11:45
Will Ferrell enters to a roar and wastes no time establishing his comedic register, riffing on Speedos ('after 3 minutes you forget you have one on'), Venice Beach sightings, and his LAFC championship before getting into the good stuff. He explains that Talladega Nights was born in a single five-minute phone call with Adam McKay — a deliberately populist pivot after Anchorman was so hard to get made. Two guys who knew nothing about NASCAR, he says, ended up writing 'the seminal NASCAR movie.' Jason shares his own Talladega experience handing gas cans during a race, and Ferrell marvels at the physical demands of pit crews, who are recruited specifically from football for their explosiveness. The fun fact of the segment: Talladega Motor Speedway is the only racetrack in the US with its own on-site jail [1] — Will Ferrell "Talladega Speedway has its own jail: Talladega Motor Speedway is the only racetrack in the country with its own on-site jail, which Will Fe…" 19:47 .
After struggling to get Anchorman made, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay decided to pick the most popular American sport they could think of and just write a movie. NASCAR was the answer. Adam McKay called back in five minutes, they sold the pitch in two seconds, and two guys who knew nothing about motorsports wrote what Ferrell calls 'the seminal NASCAR movie.'
Will Ferrell revealed Talladega Nights was a knee-jerk reaction to how hard it was to get Anchorman made, choosing NASCAR as an obviously popular topic to pitch.
Talladega Motor Speedway is the only racetrack in the country with its own on-site jail, which Will Ferrell noted as a sign of how much fun fans have there.
