Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson stopped by TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto for a special screening of the first two episodes of their new golf comedy.
Will Ferrell is taking his special kind of anarchy to the golf course falconA new Netflix comedy that gives the actor something he surprisingly never got before: a lead role in his own television series.
Ferrell plays Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins, a former golf legend attempting to recapture the success that made him the biggest personality in the game. More than two decades after rising to the top of the golf world, Looney needs one final major win to complete the career Grand Slam.
Ahead of the show’s Netflix debut, Ferrell and co-star Luke Wilson stopped by the TIFF Bell Lightbox for a special Toronto screening, where attendees were shown the first two episodes.
In view of those incidents, falcon Hilarious. It has the sharp comedy that audiences have come to expect from Ferrell, but the series format gives its dysfunctional relationships and running jokes more room to develop. Amidst the loud clothing, extravagant tour bus and tireless bravery, a surprisingly compelling comeback story is also taking shape.
It was the opportunity to allow characters and stories to unfold over a longer period of time that attracted Ferrell to the project.
“Being in the writers’ room and crafting those ideas, and having ideas that can last the whole time rather than having to wrap them up so quickly, was very attractive to me,” Ferrell said during the Toronto event.
Wilson, who plays Lonnie’s longtime rival, Golden Fisk, agreed that television offered a welcome change from the increasingly compressed nature of feature-film comedies.
“There’s a lot of mess there,” Wilson said. “Even with a good script, they want the comedy to be very short, and so it’s great to have a chance to expand things.”
Lonnie is definitely the type of character who benefits from extra space. He is selfish, impulsive and almost completely unable to recognize when there is a problem, although he constantly attempts to repair the damage he has done.
“He doesn’t really care about anyone else but himself, and he’s always trying to improve,” Ferrell explained.
“I think the word ‘bragging’ applies,” Wilson chimed in.
When developing the character, Ferrell looked to great golf players he remembered watching growing up, including Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer, Seve Ballesteros, and Jack Nicklaus. They imagined themselves throwing insults on the course while competing in colorful costumes.
“When I was conceiving this idea, I wanted to return to what I always thought about when I watched golf as a kid,” Ferrell said. “I just found out that they were always talking to each other on the golf course and wearing loud clothes.”
His comeback becomes even more complicated when his son Lance, played by Jimmy Tatro, emerges as golf’s new golden boy and potential heir to the Hawk name. Molly Shannon plays Lonnie’s estranged wife Stacey, while Fortune Feemster appears as his new caddy Sam. Chris Parnell, Caitlin Tarver, David Hornsby, Gabriel Hogan and Aida Osman participated in the group.
Ferrell also created and executive produced the series, allowing him to create an entire comic world around a character that might once have been limited to a two-hour movie. After watching early episodes, that extra room seems to be working falcon Kindness.
Lonnie Hawkins may be chasing one last championship, but Ferrell has already found the perfect format for his latest comic creation.
falcon Will premiere on Netflix on July 16.
