AP Photo/Jonathan BachmanIn January, a video of Will Ferrell nailing a cheerleader in the face with a basketball during a Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans game went viral, and although it was simply part of the filming for a movie, it had us all cracking up!
Now that movie, Daddy's Home, will hit theaters on Christmas Day, and Ferrell is remembering what it was like to film that scene almost a year ago.
"That was a blast," the 48-year-old actor tells Collider. "I don't know if [Mark Wahlberg's] ever done anything [like that]…We had six minutes there [at the Lakers game] at half time to do this thing and prior to that, the front part of the scene where the kids are getting to meet Kobe [Bryant], so that energy and that momentum of having to do that that night was spectacular."
He adds, "The crowd fell right in line with not knowing what was going to happen and there I am drunk, in front of this crowd, so that was great. It's nice to—you know, you always write those scenes and you usually can't get the parties involved to cooperate for whatever reason but to get to shoot at an NBA game and get to do all these things and have it all fall into place is so great for a movie like this."
But did he expect it to blow up on the Internet like it did?
"Those are the moments where I still forget there's an internet out there," Ferrell admits. "Because you forget that everyone's got a phone now and it's just hilarious the comments. They just read the headline, they don't read that it's part of a movie, so it's a lot of comments like, 'He should be sued!' and 'How dare he do that!'…I think it's ultimately just fun buzz for the movie."
Daddy's Home stars Ferrell as a mild-mannered radio executive who is determined to become the best stepdad possible to the children of his new wife (played by Linda Cardellini). Wahlberg plays the children's freeloading father, who suddenly reappears in their lives and forces Ferrell to vie for the kids' affection.
The films hits theaters everywhere on Dec. 25.