Molly Shannon is reflecting on her decades-long friendship with Will Ferrell — and a surprisingly prescient comment he made early in their careers.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Shannon recalled meeting Ferrell in the mid-1990s while she was working at what she described as a “cappuccino, scone place” in Los Angeles. Introduced through the Groundlings comedy troupe, the two immediately connected. “We clicked right away,” she said, remembering serving him a scone and a latte. “We’ve been friends ever since. 30 years.”
Both were hired in 1995 on “Saturday Night Live,” where they became part of a defining era for the long-running sketch series. Shannon created characters including Sally O’Malley, while the pair also collaborated on projects like “A Night at the Roxbury” and “Superstar.”
But Shannon said one early conversation on “SNL” stood out. While she was enthusiastic about landing the job, Ferrell was more cautious about its longevity.
“I don’t know. Who knows how long this is going to last?” he told her at the time. “I just think it’s not going to last long, and I think actors are eventually going to be replaced by robots, and they’re not going to need human actors anymore.”
Shannon said she initially dismissed the idea as overly pessimistic, recalling that she told him, “You’re being so dark.”
Ferrell, she added, joked he would be fine either way. “He said, ‘I could have a job working as a dog groomer or as a UPS driver or as a coach and still be happy.’”
Looking back, Shannon said, “But Will was right,” adding that the two “die laughing about it now.”
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