Ferrell drops bombshell in hilarious tennis interview
Will Ferrell had fans in stitches at the Australian Open on Tuesday night and the Hollywood star was back at it again on Thursday in a hilarious interview with tennis great and Channel 7 commentator Jim Courier.
The star of movies such as 'Anchorman' and 'Step Brothers' provided a bizarre highlight on the second night at Melbourne Park after hijacking Roger Federer's post-match interview.
Federer was being interviewed on court by John McEnroe when Ferrell made a surprise appearance, asking the 19-time grand slam champion whether he was a witch or a vampire, and whether he eats wombat meat.
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On Thursday, the actor sat down with Courier to discuss his love affair with Australia and the sport of tennis, as well as his bombshell 'retirement' plans.
"Part of the reason I wanted to hold this press conference is I'm retiring," Ferrell confessed as the crowd burst into laughter.
"So yeah I'm done. I've done all the movies I want to do and it's a great way to go out."
The credibility of the movie star's statement was immediately undone by his cheeky laugh but he did have some genuine words to say about Australia's grand slam tournament.
"I'm a big tennis fan and I'm with some friends of ours, one of which is married to an Aussie and we just thought, 'What are you doing in January? Let's go check out the Australian Open', and it has exceeded expectations.
"Obviously you've got an amazing venue in Melbourne, a great city."
However, the comedian's one big 'gripe' with life Down Under was that his presence was going relatively unnoticed.
"No one is recognising me, and I’m really upset by that," he laughed.
"So I have been walking through the streets dressed as many of the characters I have played in films, and people still aren't recognising me.
"So that’s been a little disappointing."
The Anchorman star even channeled iconic newsreader Ron Burgundy to give Courier some advice for his next court-side interview.
"Ron would probably tell Jim to be a little more inebriated in his postmatch interviews," he said.
"That’s where Ron Burgundy draws his strength."
Ferrell also demonstrated a surprisingly good knowledge of tennis when revealing which male and female players he was backing to take out the Australian Open title.
"It's hard to pick against Federer," he said.
"I think that's what’s so exciting right now about men's and women's tennis. It's never been more wide open, so I don't know.
"(On the women's side) that's a tricky one. How is Halep's ankle going to recover? That's a big question mark.
"Svitolina has question marks. We'll just keep talking around in circles and not give you an answer. That's what I do."
