“I really wanted to play this tragic, narcissistic guy”: Will Ferrell on golf comedy The Hawk

When he hears where he stands on a top-100 list of celebrity golfers, Will Ferrell doesn’t try to argue with his ranking.

“Look, I’m 100 out of 100 of the celebrities out there,” Ferrell, 59, jokes. “I’m on that list at 100 right below Air Bud.”

In his new Netflix golf comedy The Hawk, Ferrell plays Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins, a past-his-prime golfer trying to make a comeback. The 10-episode series, co-created with his pals Harper Steele and Chris Henchy, reunites Ferrell with his former Saturday Night Live castmate Molly Shannon (as his estranged wife), and his Old School co-star Luke Wilson (as Golden Fisk, his one-time nemesis on PGA Tour).

The cast also includes Jimmy Tatro as Lonnie’s resentful son and Fortune Feimster as Sam, Lonnie’s caddie and follows Ferrell’s penchant for acting in sports comedies.

“I really wanted to play this tragic, narcissistic guy who just makes mistakes left and right,” Ferrell says. “I really wanted to do an episodic series where you could spend time with a character … He wears a visor with his name on it — it says ‘Hawk.’ He’s afraid people won’t recognize him. I thought it would be fun to play someone that needy.”

As for his skills on the golf course, Ferrell says his last-place ranking is exactly where he likes to be.

“It sets low expectations,” he chuckles. “I’ll have one good hole, and then I’ll collapse. But I got better doing the show.”

Wilson, who recently welcomed his first child with girlfriend Kendall Yates, says his standing among his fellow celebrity golfers was curious.

At No. 43, he found himself sandwiched between Nathan Lane and Antonio Sabàto Jr.

During a whirlwind press day in Toronto last week, the morning after Ferrell and Wilson appeared at the MLB Home Run Derby in Philadelphia, the longtime friends spoke more about the new series, shared their thoughts on what golf can teach you about life and revealed whether it is every acceptable to cheat the closer you get to the pin.

You two first worked together 23 years ago on Old School. Since then, you’ve acted opposite each other on Anchorman and Blades of Glory. What’s it like to be back on The Hawk?

Wilson “It was really fun. You forget that it’s been all those years because it doesn’t seem that way, but I don’t have a good sense of time and space, either.”

Ferrell “We’re making sweet music onstage, but then offstage we’re still screaming at each other.”

Ferrell “On this show, he’d leave notes on the windshield of my car as Golden Fisk, his character, admonishing me for doing something wrong.”