Look up plaza in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The plaza mayor of Valladolid, Spain, a typical Spanish plaza.

Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, Colombia is the largest plaza in Bogotá, and home to one of the largest cathedrals in South America, the Cathedral of Bogotá

The Zócalo has been the central gathering space of Mexico City since Aztec times

Piazza De Ferrari in Genoa, Italy, is the central plaza of Genoa, in the heart of the city

Plaza ( /ˈplɑːzə/; Castilian Spanish: [ˈplaθa] or Latin American Spanish: [ˈplasa]) is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square.^[1] All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace, and the audiencia or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis or fiesta, it was the space where a large crowd might gather. Like the Italian piazza, the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equaled by the market-place.

Most colonial cities in Spanish America and the Philippines were planned around a square plaza de armas, where troops could be mustered, as the name implies, surrounded by the governor's palace and the main church. A plaza de toros is a bullring.

In modern usage, a plaza can be any gathering place on a street or between buildings, a street intersection with a statue, etc. Today's metropolitan landscapes often incorporate the "plaza" as a design element, or as an outcome of zoning regulations, building budgetary constraints, and the like. Sociologist William H. Whyte conducted an extensive study of plazas in New York City: his study humanized the way modern urban plazas are conceptualized, and helped usher in significant design changes in the making of plazas.

Cognates of the word plaza include Italian piazza, Portuguese praça, French place, Catalan plaça and Romanian piața.

Examples[link]

Shopping center[link]

The first purpose-built shopping center in the United States, opened in Kansas City, Missouri in 1922, knowingly took the name of "Country Club Plaza" and adopted Spanish architectural details.^[2] More recently plaza has been used to describe a shopping complex, similar to a shopping mall, borrowing its connotations of a center of cultural life. The name is currently even applied to a single building with some semi-public street-level areas, often with a hotel or office tower above, while mall more often refers to multiple buildings or a street.

Examples: Pantip Plaza (Bangkok), Bintang Plaza (Miri), Kuching Plaza (Kuching), Plaza Las Américas (San Juan), Plaza de las Estrellas (Mexico City), Central Plaza (Hong Kong), Schiphol Plaza (Amsterdam), Plazas del Centro Comercial Santafé (Bogotá), and The Plaza (Evergreen Park, Illinois).

References[link]

See also[link]

• Gostiny Dvor
• Piazza
• Shopping mall

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (February 2011)

Aubrey Plaza
Plaza at the 2012 Time 100
Birth name	Aubrey Christina Plaza
Born	(1984-06-26) June 26, 1984 (age 28) Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, improv
Years active	2004–present
Genres	Deadpan
Notable works and roles	April Ludgate in Parks and Recreation Daisy Danby in Funny People Julie Powers in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Website	http://aubreyplaza.tumblr.com/

Aubrey Christina Plaza^[1] (born June 26, 1984)^[2] is an American actress and comedian who has gained popularity through her deadpan-style comedy, and currently co-stars in Parks and Recreation as April Ludgate.

Early life[link]

Plaza was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the daughter of Bernadette, an attorney, and David Plaza, a financial advisor.^[3][4][5] She has two younger sisters, Renee and Natalie,^[3] the latter of whom she uses as inspiration for her teenage character April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation.^[6]

Plaza was named after the song "Aubrey" by Bread.^[3][7] Her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is of Irish and English descent.^[3][8] Plaza has stated: "I was like the only diverse kid in my high school, and I'm half-Puerto Rican. But yeah, I have a huge family and tons of cousins in Puerto Rico."^[6] She participated in productions with the Wilmington Drama League.^[3]

Plaza graduated from Ursuline Academy^[3][9] in 2002, and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2006.^[3] While at NYU in 2004, Plaza suffered a stroke that caused temporary paralysis and expressive aphasia, but she has fully recovered.^[3][10]

Career[link]

Plaza has said that she has had many internships and that she "was an intern for Samba Post-Its." One of her jobs was to "literally wallpaper a bathroom with Post-Its." She also worked as an NBC page.

She has been performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also recently began performing stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv. In 2008, she was seen in the Improv Everywhere prank "Mobile Desktop", in which she and two other people brought desktop PCs, including a CRT screen, tower computer, keyboard and mouse into a Starbucks and used them just as people use laptops there.

Plaza starred in the online series The Jeannie Tate Show, and stars as Robin Gibney in ESPN's Mayne Street. She also appeared in the first episode of "Terrible Decisions with Ben Schwartz" on Funny or Die.^[11]

Plaza at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010

She played Seth Rogen's love interest, Daisy, in 2009's Funny People directed by Judd Apatow. She also had roles in the comedy films Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team, which debuted at 2009 Sundance. She appeared in a CollegeHumor short alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.

She plays April Ludgate, the deadpan employee in Parks and Recreation, and has a recurring role as "the Princess" in the comedic sci-fi web series Troopers on CollegeHumor.

On March 12, 2010, Plaza performed at A Night of 140 Tweets: A Celebrity Tweetathon for Haiti, produced by Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, Ben Stiller, and Mike Rosenstein, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.

In 2010 she made a guest appearance in Portlandia.

Plaza appeared as a guest judge during a roast segment on The Next Food Network Star in 2011.

She appeared in Episode 199 of the WTF with Marc Maron podcast.

In early 2012, she was featured in Father John Misty(J. Tillman)'s music video for the song "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", off the album "Fear Fun".

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aubrey Plaza

• Aubrey Plaza at the Internet Movie Database
• Aubrey Plaza Videos - Plaza's video website
• Aubrey Plaza NBC Profile - Profile from Parks and Recreation
• Troopers web series

Rebel Wilson
Wilson at the Sydney premiere of A Few Best Men in January 2012
Born	1983/1984 (age 28–29)[1] Sydney, Australia
Occupation	Actress, Writer, Comedienne
Years active	2002–

Rebel Wilson is an Australian actress, writer, and stand-up comedienne, known for her roles in the television series Pizza and Bogan Pride and the film Bridesmaids.

Early and personal life[link]

"Rebel" is her real given name. Wilson was born and raised in Sydney with her three siblings, Liberty, Ryot and Annachi.^[2][3] Liberty and Ryot were on the first season of The Amazing Race Australia.^[4] Her parents were professional dog showers.^[5] Throughout high school Wilson's first career choice was mathematics. Wilson told The Sydney Morning Herald, "I was very academic at high school and was always good with numbers."^[6] Wilson attended the University of New South Wales, where she studied Law and Arts (Theatre and Performance Studies).^[6] She is a former Rotary International Youth Ambassador for Australia and was based in South Africa for one year, where she contracted malaria.^[5][6] Wilson had hallucinations in which she saw herself as an actress who had won an Oscar.^[5] This then convinced her to pursue an acting career.^[5]

In July 2011, Wilson became a spokesperson for weight loss and nutrition company Jenny Craig in Australia.^[3][7] In January 2012, Wilson revealed to James Wigney and Elle Halliwell of The Daily Telegraph that she had lost 10kg since signing up to the program.^[1] She also revealed the producers of Pitch Perfect had refused to let her lose any more weight during filming, as her contract stated she must stay the same size.^[1] Wilson said once her film commitments were over, she would start her diet again to reach her target weight of 80kg.^[1]

Career[link]

Wilson studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People.^[8] In 2003, she moved to New York after she won a scholarship with The Second City Training Centre.^[9] Wilson is a writer, producer and stand-up comedian, and has appeared with the Sydney Theatre Company and performed at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.^[8] She first came to the public's attention with her stage musical The Westie Monologues which she wrote, starred in and produced in Sydney.^[10] Her follow-up stage productions which she wrote, produced and starred in include Spunks and Confessions of an Exchange Student.^[6][11]

In Australia, Wilson is most known for her roles as Toula on SBS comedy series Pizza and as various characters on the sketch comedy series The Wedge.^[5] Wilson played an Australian Idol mad schoolgirl in a series of Telstra advertisements shown during Australian Idol from 2004 to 2005.^[12] She also had roles in the feature films Fat Pizza and Ghost Rider.^[13] In 2008, Wilson created, wrote, produced and starred in the musical comedy series Bogan Pride on SBS One and also starred in the improvisational Nine Network series Monster House.^[5][13]

In 2009, Wilson won the Tropfest Best Actress award for her role in the film Bargain.^[14] She has made appearances on the improvisational comedy show Thank God You're Here and the comedy game show Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.^[8][15] She also performed stand-up on the television special The Breast Darn Show In Town.^[16] Wilson guest starred in the Seven Network drama City Homicide and performed improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles.^[17][18]

Upon moving to the United States, Wilson signed to talent and literary agents William Morris Endeavor.^[19] Her next film role came in the Judd Apatow film Bridesmaids, where she played Brynn, the sister of Matt Lucas' character.^[19] Wilson then appeared in the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement and on the Comedy Central series, Workaholics.^[20] She co-hosted the 2010 ARIA Music Awards and performed at the inaugural Variety's Power of Comedy event in Los Angeles with Lucas and Russell Brand.^[20][21]

In early 2011, Wilson filmed A Few Best Men at Fox Studios Australia.^[22] She also filmed a role in Small Apartments.^[23] On 11 July 2011, it was announced Wilson had joined the ensemble comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting as Janice.^[23] She has also joined the upcoming Indie film, Struck By Lightning.^[24] Wilson was named one of Variety magazine's "Top Ten Comics To Watch for 2011."^[5]

On 19 August 2011, Kit Borys of The Hollywood Reporter reported Wilson had replaced Casey Wilson in the upcoming film Bachelorette.^[25] Borys also reported Wilson has become the first person to be cast in the romantic comedy Pitch Perfect and she would voice a character in Ice Age: Continental Drift.^[25] In January 2012, Michael Ausiello of TVLine announced Wilson would be writing and starring in Super Fun Night, a comedy which follows three friends on a quest to have fun every Friday night.^[26] The pilot was picked up by CBS and Conan O'Brien is one of the executive producers.^[26] On 27 March 2012, Adam B. Vary of Entertainment Weekly reported Wilson had joined the cast of Michael Bay's Pain & Gain as Ramona Eldridge.^[27]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rebel Wilson at the Internet Movie Database
• Rebel Wilson's channel on YouTube

Will Ferrell
Ferrell in May 2009
Born	John William Ferrell (1967-07-16) July 16, 1967 (age 44) Irvine, California, United States
Occupation	Comedian, impressionist, actor, writer
Years active	1995–present
Spouse	Viveca Paulin (2000–present)

John William "Will" Ferrell (/ˈfɛrəl/;^[1] born July 16, 1967)^[2] is an American comedian, impressionist, actor, and writer. Ferrell first established himself in the mid 1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and has subsequently starred in the comedy films Old School, Elf, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Stranger than Fiction, Blades of Glory, Semi-Pro, and The Other Guys. He is considered a member of the "Frat Pack", a generation of leading Hollywood comic actors who emerged in the late 1990s and the 2000s, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Vince Vaughn, and brothers Owen and Luke Wilson.

Early life[link]

Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, the son of Betty Kay (née Overman), a teacher who taught at Old Mill School elementary school and Santa Ana College,^[3] and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician with The Righteous Brothers.^[4] His parents were both natives of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and moved to California in 1964;^[5][6] Ferrell has Irish ancestry.^[7] Ferrell has a younger brother, Patrick.^[8] When he was 8, his parents divorced. Ferrell said of the divorce, "I was the type of kid who would say, 'Hey Look at the bright side! We'll have two Christmases.'" The divorce was amicable and both parents were committed to their children. The biggest problem was Lee's line of work. As a person in show business, his paychecks were never steady and he was gone from home months at a time. Growing up in the environment made Ferrell not want to go into show business, but get a steady job.^[8]

Will first attended school at Turtle Rock Elementary and later attended Rancho San Joaquin Middle School, both in Irvine. He attended University High School in Irvine, and was a kicker for the school's varsity football team.^[9] He was also on the soccer team and captain of the basketball team, and served on student council. As a joke, he started the reptile club (even though he didn't know anyone who owned one), but the club only lasted for two meetings.^[10]

Ferrell called third grade "a pivotal year". He realized he could make his classmates laugh if he pretended to smash his head against the wall, or if he tripped and fell on purpose, and said it was a great way to make friends.^[11] He told the Orange County Register that the dullness of Irvine contributed to the growth of his humor:

Growing up in suburbia, in safe, master-planned Irvine, there was no drama so we had to create it in our heads. My main form of entertainment was cracking my friends up and exploring new ways of being funny. I didn't have to have the survival mode instinct like other comics, who grew up in tough neighborhoods. I had the opposite. For me, I grew up in Mayberry, and the humor broke the boredom. And there was a lot to make fun of.^[12]

In his senior year of high school, Ferrell and a friend would perform comedy skits over the school's intercom system, with cooperation from the principal. The two had to write their own material though. Ferrell also performed comedic skits in the school's talent shows. He won the "Best Personality" superlative voted by his classmates.^[10]

He enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he studied Sports Broadcasting and joined the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. In college, he was known for a few pranks. On occasion, he would dress in a janitor's outfit and stroll into his friends' classes. He was also known for streaking around campus with a few other people from the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.^[10] Ferrell earned an internship at a local television station in the sports department. He did not enjoy the work.^[13]

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Sports Information in 1990, he knew he did not want to do broadcasting. He took up jobs as a hotel valet, and on his second day he tore a baggage rack off the top of a van by trying to drive it under a low-lying beam. He also worked as a teller at Wells Fargo, but came up short $300 the first day and $280 the second—he was not stealing the money, he was just careless and error-prone.^[13]

In 1991, he moved out of the house (thanks to his mother's encouragement to pursue something he liked) and to Los Angeles. He auditioned (and got in), and developed his improvisation skills as a member of the comedy group The Groundlings.^[13]

Career[link]

[edit] The Groundlings

Before joining The Groundlings, Ferrell's attempts at standup comedy had little success. He started in the advanced classes and grew to love improvisation. He realized he also liked to impersonate people, and one of his favorites was Harry Caray, the Hall of Fame baseball announcer. Soon he began to create original characters. With fellow Groundlings member Chris Kattan, they created the Butabi Brothers, who go out to dance clubs to try to pick up women but are constantly rejected. While taking classes, Ferrell got a job at an auction house via his friend Viveca Paulin. The job was ideal as it was flexible enough for him to audition and go to rehearsals while also being employed. He received small roles, including TV series Grace Under Fire and Living Single, low-budget films such as A Bucket of Blood, as well as commercials. One winter, he even served as a mall Santa Claus. Then, in 1994, he won a spot with the top professional group of The Groundlings.^[14]

[edit] Saturday Night Live

After SNL's dip in popularity in 1994–1995 and in need of new cast members for the next season, a producer saw The Groundlings and asked Ferrell, Kattan, and Cheri Oteri to audition for SNL's main producer, Lorne Michaels.^[15]

Ferrell joined Saturday Night Live in 1995 and left in 2002 after a successful seven-year tenure. He returned to host twice (both in season finales), and once in the cold open of the final episode of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday.

During his time on SNL, Ferrell made a name for himself with his impersonations, which included:

• U.S. President George W. Bush
• Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray,
• Singer Robert Goulet (crooning a cappella pieces of music by Sisqó, Baha Men, and Notorious B.I.G.),
• Singer Neil Diamond,
• Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton (who was quoted several times favoring Ferrell's impersonation),
• Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy,
• United States Attorney General Janet Reno,
• Convicted Unabomber Ted Kaczynski,
• Game show host Alex Trebek,
• Fictitious black private detective Shaft,
• Professional wrestler-turned-Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura,
• U.S. Vice President Al Gore (Darrell Hammond took over once Ferrell started playing Bush),
• Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
• Cuban President Fidel Castro.

His original characters included "Morning Latte" co-host Tom Wilkins, Ed the Horse's twin brother Ned (cf. Mister Ed), fictional Blue Öyster Cult member Gene Frenkle (physically modeled after Blue Öyster Cult vocalist Eric Bloom), music teacher Marty Culp, Spartan cheerleader Craig Buchanan, Dale Sturtevant from "Dissing Your Dog", Hank of the Bill Brasky Buddies, David Leary from "Dog Show", and night clubber Steve Butabi in a sketch that went to the big screen in 1998's A Night at the Roxbury.

Ferrell returned to Saturday Night Live as a guest host on May 14, 2005, and May 16, 2009. Both times, he reprised his role as Alex Trebek in the "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches. On the May 14 appearance, Ferrell reprised his role as Robert Goulet in a fake commercial advertising a series of crooned ringtones and, during the performance of the song "Little Sister" by musical guests Queens of the Stone Age, Ferrell came on stage playing the cowbell.

Ferrell became the highest paid cast member of Saturday Night Live in 2001 with a season salary of $350,000.^[16]

Film career[link]

During his time on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell appeared in several movies: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, A Night at the Roxbury, Superstar, The Ladies Man, Dick, Drowning Mona, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Zoolander.

His first starring role came after his departure from SNL with Frank "The Tank" Richard in Old School (2003). The film "belongs to Mr. Ferrell", declared the New York Times, which described how he "uses his hilarious, anxious zealotry to sell the part."^[17] Old School was a major success and Ferrell received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance.

The title role in Elf (2003) followed, as did another MTV Movie Awards nomination. Ferrell continued to land comedy roles in 2004 and 2005 in films such as Melinda and Melinda, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Starsky & Hutch earning himself a place among Hollywood's Frat Pack.^[18] In 2005, Ferrell earned $40 million.^[19] In 2006, Ferrell starred in Stranger Than Fiction and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; both received critical and box office success. Ferrell's performance in Stranger Than Fiction introduced audiences to the dramatic potential of Ferrell's acting talents. On December 27, 2006, 'The Magazine' named Ferrell as one of its three actors of the year in their 2006 year in review issue.^[20]

Ferrell at the premiere of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, December 2007

Ferrell appeared as part of a pre-game video package for the Rose Bowl along with Texas alum Matthew McConaughey. Ferrell also sang a song at the ESPY Awards in 2006 about Lance Armstrong and Neil Armstrong. He and John C. Reilly also did a spot during the 2008 ESPY Awards where they made demands in order for them to appear at the ESPYs like asking Portland Trail Blazers' center Greg Oden to tuck them in at night and tell them stories of the old times or to bring back the Cold War so the Olympics can be interesting again.

Ferrell participated in a 79th Academy Awards musical-comedy performance with John C. Reilly and Jack Black, wherein they sang a song about comedies being snubbed by the voters in favor of dramas.

In May 2009 it was announced Ferrell is in talks to star in Neighborhood Watch, a comedy about an urbanite who moves to the suburbs and uncovers a conspiracy. In negotiations to direct is David Dobkin, who gave Ferrell a cameo in Wedding Crashers.^[21] In August 2009, Ferrell decided not to do the film. In the summer of 2009, Ferrell did a large amount of filming with several young actors. He helped out on a film entitled Making a Movie^{[citation needed]}, which is now on DVD.

In June 2009, Land of the Lost was released. It was a commercial and critical flop after earning $19 million on opening weekend, about two-thirds of what the studio expected.^[22][23]

In 2010, he was the executive producer and star of The Other Guys, a buddy cop film, which also has an ensemble cast which consists of Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. Unlike Land of the Lost, the film was a commercial success, earning over $140 million,^[24] and was positively reviewed by critics.

Ferrell is set to star in Casa de Mi Padre, a telenovela spoof comedy set in a ranch with Mexican stars Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal. The movie's story will be told in melodramatic telenovela form and will feature English-language subtitles.^[25]

Voice acting[link]

Will Ferrell dressed as Megamind at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International

Ferrell has worked as a voice actor in several animated television programs, including his portrayal of Bob Oblong, a 1950s-style father with no arms or legs, in the short-lived animated television series The Oblongs. He has had several guest appearances on Family Guy, where he played the Black Knight in "Mr. Saturday Knight", as well as Fat Greek Guy and Miles "Chatterbox" Musket in Fifteen Minutes of Shame. Ferrell also starred as Ted (a.k.a. The Man in the Yellow Hat) in the film Curious George^[26] and guest voiced on an episode of the FOX sitcom King of the Hill as a political correct soccer coach. He voiced the title character in the 2010 DreamWorks Animation film Megamind.

Stage career[link]

Ferrell made his Broadway debut taking on departing U.S. President George W. Bush in a one-man show called You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush. The show started performances on January 20, 2009, in previews—Bush's final day in office—at the Cort Theatre and opened officially on February 1. The limited engagement played through March 15, 2009.^[27]

Creating and producing[link]

[edit] Funny or Die

In April 2007, Ferrell launched "Funny or Die",^[28] a streaming video website where short comedy films are uploaded and voted on by users. The site features The Landlord, starring Ferrell and Pearl McKay, the toddler daughter of Funny or Die co-founder Adam McKay. Ferrell's character is harassed for the rent by his landlady, a swearing, beer-loving, two-year-old girl (played by McKay's daughter, Pearl). Child psychologists have criticized Ferrell and the McKay family for child exploitation,^[29] to which McKay responded:

Fortunately she is in this great stage now where she repeats anything you say to her and then forgets it right away, which is key. She has not said the 'B-word' since we shot the thing.

—Adam McKay^[30]

They followed with the release of a video entitled "Good Cop, Baby Cop" which also starred baby Pearl;^[31] the end of the video stated that this would be her final appearance and wished her a happy "baby retirement."

In September 2008, Ferrell released another video entitled "Will Ferrell Answers Internet Questions" where he takes some pressing questions and comments from his fans.

Another Ferrell appearance on "Funny or Die"^[28] is in the video called "Green Team," featuring also McKay and John C Reilly. It shows militant ecologic activists terrorizing the crew on a filming set.

[edit] Eastbound & Down

Ferrell co-produces (with Adam McKay) an HBO show starring Danny McBride called Eastbound & Down.^[32] He also has a recurring role as car dealer Ashley Schaeffer.

Personal life[link]

In August 2000, Ferrell married Swedish actress Viveca Paulin, whom he met in 1995 at an acting class. They live in New York City and in Orange County, California and have three sons, Magnus Paulin Ferrell, born March 7, 2004,^[33] Mattias Paulin Ferrell, born December 30, 2006,^[34] and Axel Paulin Ferrell, born January 23, 2010.^[35]

In 2006, I-Newswire.com, a site that accepts submissions from readers and publishes them as "press releases", reported that Ferrell had died in a paragliding accident. The hoax was published before its factual inaccuracy was noticed. The story was further propagated when it appeared on Google News.

Ferrell is a fan of USC Trojan football. At USC, Ferrell was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and is now an active alumnus. Ferrell has worked with former head coach Pete Carroll to do motivational stunts for the players during the season.^[9]

Ferrell is also a supporter of English Premier League football club ^[36] Chelsea, representing Chelsea as honorary captain in the coin toss before the Chelsea v Inter Milan match at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on July 21, 2009.^[37]

Ferrell enjoys running and has participated in several major marathons such as the Boston, New York and Stockholm Marathons.^[38] He also raises money for charity, including his Scholarships for Cancer Survivors campaign through Crowdrise; a social networking community for volunteers and a micro-donations fundraising platform.^[39]

In 2007, Autograph magazine named Ferrell the worst celebrity autographer. Its editor stated, "What's so frustrating about Will Ferrell being the worst autograph signer this past year is that he used to be so nice to fans and collectors and a great signer. What makes him so bad is that he'll taunt people asking for his autograph."^[40] In response, Ferrell has stated, "I don't know how I got on the list. I sign a lot of autographs", but has admitted to taunting autograph-seekers: "I do. I really do. I'm like, 'How badly do you want this autograph?' 'Are you sure?' 'You say you're my biggest fan, really, prove it.' I'll do things like that. They have to earn it."^[41]

Ferrell had noted that, although he was well known for his SNL impersonation of President George W. Bush, he chose, for both professional and political reasons, not to meet the President on several occasions, unlike his SNL predecessor Dana Carvey's famous chummy relationship with George H. W. Bush: "I declined, partly out of comedic purposes, because when I was on the show Saturday Night Live at the time, it didn't make sense to really meet the people that you play, for fear of them influencing you. And then the other side of it is, from a political standpoint, I don't want to meet that guy."^[41] Ferrell also appeared on an episode of Man vs. Wild, where he traveled throughout the tundras of Sweden with the show's host, Bear Grylls. In the episode, Ferrell came across various unique situations, which included eating the eye of a reindeer.^[42]

Ferrell made a comical debut as a relief pitcher for the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, on May 6, 2010. He was introduced as "Billy Ray 'Rojo' Johnson", and was brought in to relief pitch for the sixth inning. He then entertained the fans by bringing a sack of beer cans to the mound, as well as being ejected and getting chased by the opposing batter. He revealed himself to the fans when his moustache fell off during the chase. The appearance was cooked up by Ferrell and the Express, who sent out a press release announcing Johnson's "signing", to promote The Will Powered Golf Classic the following day at the nearby Cimarron Hills Country Club, which benefits Cancer for College, an organization that provides scholarships to cancer survivors.^[43]

Ferrell has an estimated net worth of $80 million.^[44]

He appeared in the video for "Make Some Noise" by the Beastie Boys in the front of a limo playing a cowbell.

Awards and nominations[link]

Emmy Awards

Nominated:

• 2001: Outstanding Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program (for Saturday Night Live)

ESPY Awards

Won:

• 2007 ESPY Awards, Best Sports Movie (for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby)
• 2008 ESPY Awards, Best Sports Movie (for Semi-Pro)

Golden Globe Awards

Nominated:

• 2006: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (for The Producers)
• 2007: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (for Stranger than Fiction)

James Joyce Award

• 2008: James Joyce Award from University College Dublin's Literary and Historical Society in recognition for "excelling in his field".^[45][46]

Kids Choice Awards

• 2011: Favorite Buttkicker (for Megamind)^[47]

MTV Movie Awards

Won:

• 2007: Best Kiss for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (with Sacha Baron Cohen)

Nominated:

• 2003: Best Comedic Performance (for Old School)
• 2003: Best On-Screen Team (with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn for Old School)
• 2004: Best Comedic Performance (for Elf)
• 2005: Best Comedic Performance (for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
• 2005: Best On-Screen Team (with Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
• 2005: Best Musical Performance (with Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
• 2007: Best Comedic Performance (for Blades of Glory)
• 2007: Best Fight (for Blades of Glory)