AMY POEHLER AND WILL FERRELL BET ON ‘THE HOUSE’
Poehler, Ferrell bet on ‘The House’ “SNL” alums roll for comedy jackpot
Shockingly, Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler have never headlined a movie together.
The comedy giants overlapped each other for a year on NBC’s Saturday Night Live in 2001 and played rival figure skaters in 2007 satire Blades of
Glory, but have shared virtually no screen time.
“I think people thought Will and I worked together more than we actually did, which I take as a high compliment,” says Poehler, who co-stars with Ferrell in casino comedy The
House (in theaters Friday). “I think he’s the greatest and he’s pinching me really hard and making me say that.”
In The House, co-written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien ( Neighbors), the pals play suburban couple Scott (Ferrell) and Kate Johansen (Poehler), who scramble to pay for their daughter’s (Ryan Simpkins) college education after a town-sponsored scholarship falls through.
With the help of their deadbeat friend Frank (Jason Mantzoukas), they open an underground casino in his house to make quick cash, but hilariously get in over their heads.
Both stars fiercely improvised on set and made it a mission to one-up each others’ jokes, particularly when Scott and Kate adopt their gangster personas “The Butcher” and “The Burner,” nicknames that stem from their weapons of choice: an ax and blowtorch lighter, respectively. “They’ve seen the movie Casino and it was their version,” says Ferrell, 49.
“Like, what would these suburban parents think would make them look formidable?” adds Poehler, 45. “Women’s Italian sunglasses and a red-felt fedora that you get from a Halloween shop.”
After a bloody mishap when they catch a casino patron counting cards, Scott and Kate feel empowered to track down and threaten people who owe them money, hitting debtors with shoes and holding their faces under frozen-yogurt machines.
“The poor stunt guy. We waterboarded him with fro-yo, to where he literally had to be like, ‘Just tell me when we’re rolling because I have to hold my breath,’ ” Ferrell says.
“But we refused to let him have a safe word,” Poehler jokes.
The SNL alums fondly remember the first sketch they wrote together, in which they played movie extras over-emoting in the background. Although Ferrell has occasionally revived his iconic George W. Bush impression from the comedy series, neither actor foresees a return to SNL in the near future.
“Amy and I are blissfully retired from SNL,” Ferrell says. “It’s the best job in the world when you’re in the middle of it, but once you leave, you totally fall out of shape from not doing it. You don’t really sit there going like, ‘Oh, I still have (this impression).’ You’ve wrung that sketch towel so dry.”
Adds Poehler: “Both you and I did so much sketch before we got to SNL, the battery was running out. It’s amazing we held on as long as we did.”
Late-night and live is exhausting work, so “I want to play some type of character that sits or lies down a lot, and does her thing in the afternoon.”