Will Ferrell reveals the time John C. Reilly made him break character

Making comedy legend Will Ferrell break character is a badge of honor for any comedic actor.

Ferrell recently described the time John C. Reilly did just that in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the film’s star said in a tribute speech honoring his friend and longtime collaborator. At the U.S.-Ireland Alliance’s 2025 Oscar Wilde Awards in February, Ferrell recalled Reilly causing him to break on camera when his titular character is supposed to be in a coma, per PEOPLE.

“John comes to me to confess that he once posed for Playgirl under the name of Mike Honcho. And yes, he did spread his buttcheeks,” Ferrell recalled. He said of the scene, “That was all improvised, and I swear you just see me hanging on for dear life.”

On a more sentimental note, Ferrell also told the crowd about how he met Reilly when he was on Saturday Night Live, but they didn’t work together right away. Though he didn’t end up having a role in the film, Reilly was part of the first table read for Ferrell hit Anchorman, and made an impression on the Elf star in the process. “We could not get over how funny he was, that someone who was so capable as an actor could also be as funny,” Ferrell said of Reilly, joking, “He, of course, blew it as he took a part in this movie Gangs of New York.”

This, of course, led to Ferrell and director Adam McKay co-writing a part for Reilly in their first post-Anchorman venture, Talladega Nights. “We were hot to work with John C. Reilly,” Ferrell said. “We wanted to work with him so badly…. And, of course, John is incredible.”

From there, Reilly and Ferrell then collaborated on 2008’s Step Brothers, in which the duo play (you guessed it!) step brothers, who both still live at home with their respective parents. Over the course of the film, the two go from hating each other to becoming best friends who share a love of velociraptors, Good Housekeeping, and John Stamos.

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Ferrell said Reilly was actually the inspiration for the comedy. “John made Step Brothers,” he said. “And it just shows the enormous talent that my friend has.” He also credited Reilly with writing half of the outrageous song “Boats N’ Hoes,” which is featured in the movie alongside a music video their characters make to show off their new poorly conceived business venture.

The two costars also appeared together in 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and 2018’s Holmes & Watson, and both had cameos in 2012’s Tim & Eric’s Billion-Dollar Movie.