Will Ferrell regrets awkward Texas restaurant visit after Harper Steele booed for trans rights toast

You may have seen it by now, the new documentary on Netflix with Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, which part of it was shot in Texas. Ferrell said he regrets his visit to a Texas restaurant after his trans co-star, Steele, received an awkward response from diners. It happened while Ferrell and Steele, a former “Saturday Night Live” head writer, were filming their new Netflix documentary, “Will & Harper”, which follows their 17-day road trip across the country to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self after Steele came out as transgender in 2022.

They received what they described as an unexpected and uncomfortable response from diners at a Texas restaurant after Steele mentioned the state had not done enough for trans rights. Steele is from Iowa, but she raised a glass to the great state of Texas to a receptive audience of diners at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, where Ferrell and Steele planned to attempt the restaurant’s famous 72-ounce steak challenge. Steele wished Texas would do more for trans rights in the state, which silenced the cheers and was met with a few groans from the audience.

Suffice it to say, that went over like a lead balloon. The toast did not make it into the documentary, but Steele and Ferrell shared their responses to the moment afterward. Steele, who recently came out as transgender herself, details how uncomfortable the experience quickly got. The room started to feel very wrong to Steele said in the film. Steele was feeling a little like her transness was on display and suddenly that sort of made her feel not great.

The saddest part for Ferrell is he felt like he let Harper Steele down in that moment.

Ferrell did not really have a grasp on how intense it was going to be and felt responsible for not properly vetting the situation he was putting themselves in. That felt like it was going to be this benign place where you eat a big steak in the amount of time, and then you walk in and it is a thousand people seated in this room and Ferrell was like, “Oh, why are we here?” Steele described the feeling of being on display in that moment.

They gave a little toast, and Steele said something about passing a trans bill, and the room did a kind of reversal and a little bit of a boo. A woman shouted out, “We still love you.” Steele hate the phrase. The “still” is conditional. Steele had previously criticized the New York Times in an interview with The Independent as generally left-leaning, but also sometimes very anti-trans.

Ferrell also said that transphobia comes from people not being confident in themselves. There is hatred out there, it is very real, and it is very unsafe for trans people in certain situations. Steele is an American writer. Steele starred in the 2024 documentary “Will & Harper” with Ferrell. Steele worked at “Saturday Night Live” from 1995 to 2008, serving as head writer from 2004 through 2008.

Harper Steele’s accolades include one Primetime Emmy Award from four nominations.

Steele started working at “Saturday Night Live” the same week as Ferrell in 1995. Steele believes that humor can make a real positive difference in the world. Steele left “Saturday Night Live” for “Funny or Die” in 2008 just after they announced their partnership with HBO. After coming out to Ferrell about her gender transition in 2022, Ferrell decided he should learn more about the trans community as he was not very knowledgeable.

The two decided to undertake and document a cross-country road trip as they processed this change and what it meant for their friendship.