Will Ferrell Says Christopher Walken Told Him SNL's 'More Cowbell' Sketch 'Ruined' His Life
Before Will Ferrell hosts Saturday Night Live this weekend, he and Jimmy Fallon reminisced about one of their funniest sketches — and Ferrell revealed that this particular sketch “ruined” their guest’s life.
The Anchorman star, 52, stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, and the two former fellow SNL cast members took a look back on the “More Cowbell” sketch that they acted in together in 2000 that famously featured Christopher Walken.
Ferrell and Fallon, 45, joked about laughing while in character, but Ferrell said that Walken hasn’t been laughing about the aftermath of the hilarious sketch.
“But here’s the crazy thing. So, I go to see Christopher Walken years later, in a play. I say hello to him back stage, and he’s like, ‘You know, you’ve ruined my life,'” Ferrell said in his best impression of the Pulp Fiction actor.
“‘People during the curtain call bring cow bells and ring them,'” Ferrell recalled Walken telling him. “‘The other day I went for an Italian food lunch and the waiter asked if I wanted more cow bell with my pasta bolognese.'”
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“And I think he was really mad at me,” Ferrell added, returning to his normal voice. “He had a little smile, but…”
In the original sketch, which aired during an episode in season 25, Ferrell and Fallon were joined by Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz to imagine the recording of Blue Oyster Cult’s song “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”
Ferrell portrayed Gene Frenkle, while Walken joined the cast members as the band’s producer Bruce Dickinson — who insisted again and again that Gene give him “more cowbell.” Fans of the New York rock band will recall that the hit single includes a cowbell amid the other instrumentals.
The artistic direction ends up annoying the other band members to hilarious results.
On Friday, the two comedians joked that while Walken might not be thrilled to have the sketch follow him around for this long, it brought enough people laughter to benefit the “greater good.”
“He had such a great career, he’s a great actor,” Fallon said.
“From Deer Hunter, to Pulp Fiction, to ‘More Cowbell,'” Ferrell added. “That’s all he gets.”
“So it made a lot of people happy … but ruined one person’s life,” Fallon said. “It’s decent odds.”
