(Step) Brotherly Love
Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly take sibling rivalry to a new level of hilarity.
July 24, 2008 -- For Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, fame has been a generous gift. The duo, who are paired up yet again in the summer comedy "Step Brothers," are good friends and seem to have an almost telepathic comedic bond.
Both Ferrell and Reilly sat down to chat about their latest film, the pleasures of working together and the pitfalls of comedy on "Popcorn with Peter Travers" on ABC News Now. All that and an a cappella rendition of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream."
Ferrell and Reilly have taken much different roads to fame. Reilly has starred in the critically acclaimed dramas of Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights," "Magnolia") while Ferrell's impressions of President George W. Bush, James Lipton, Alex Trebek and others on Saturday Night Live brought the fans. The two first appeared together in a movie in 2006's box office smash "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."
"We had so much fun on 'Talladega Nights' that Will and director Adam Mckay graciously said to me 'we should do something again' and I held them to their word," said Reilly.
"John was vigilant about this actually happening, so we got together for dinner a couple of times, spit-balled a bunch of ideas, had a nice little lift going," added Ferrell. "And then Adam called us the next day and said 'I got one more idea.'" And so the idea of two forty-year-old developmental adolescents living with two single parents was born.
The film pits Ferrell and Reilly against each other as middle-aged underachievers who still live at home with their parents, played by Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen, who meet, fall in love and get married. The two engage in a turf war of sorts over their newfound situation.
"When we create these characters we take great pride in the creation of these names," said Ferrell. "Brennan Huff [Ferrell] and Dale Doback [Reilly]. To admit, arguably the worst names in cinema."
Reilly described Ferrell's character as "A momma's boy, a little bit more sensitive and a little more shy about the world. I live with my father so I'm a bit of a tough guy."
