UNITED KINGDOM: 'Talladega Nights' star Will Ferrell wins over fans on the red carpet at the film's London premiere

Record ID: 218623

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: 'Talladega Nights' star Will Ferrell wins over fans on the red carpet at the film's London premiere
  • Date: 14th September 2006
  • Summary: WILL FERRELL ARRIVING AT PREMIERE IN CAR
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAE9E5108RIF92VXVN4HUANXMSP
  • Story Text: Comic actor Will Ferrell showed he knows his audience, when he arrived to meet hundreds of screaming fans in London's Leicester Square wearing an England soccer uniform on Tuesday (September 12) evening. The Hollywood star was attending the premiere of his new comedy 'Talladega Nights: The legend of Ricky Bobby.'
    Ferrell said the top wasn't entirely just a crowd pleaser and that he was a genuine England fan.
    "I am actually, I was sad to see them loses to Portugal but, what can you do?" he said when asked if he was really a fan of the English team, although he soon afterwards deadpanned to the crowd: "I can't wait for this year's World Cup to start. I have high hopes for England, I know we are going to beat Portugal."
    In 'Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby' Will Ferrell plays the title character - NASCAR racing sensation Ricky Bobby, whose 'win at all costs' approach has made him a national hero. With the help of his loyal racing partner and childhood friend, Cal Naughton, Jr. (John C. Reilly), Ricky is unbeatable thrill their fans by finishing most races in the top spots - with Ricky Bobby always leading the pack.
    But Ricky Bobby's reign as the number one NASCAR driver is threatened when he is challenged by flamboyant French Formula One driver Jean Girard, played by Sacha Baron Cohen (known to many as Ali-G and Borat). Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight Girard for the right to be known as racing's top driver.
    Ferrell said he wasn't really a fan of NASCAR but said that the sport, which is wildly popular in the United States, seemed "ripe for parody".
    "It's kind of the spectacle of the event," he explained. "Each weekend there's a race going on somewhere in the country and the season lasts from February to November and upwards of three hundred thousand people turn up to watch these races and get drunk and take their shirts off. So, you can imagine, what a sport," he said.
    But when asked if 'Talladega Nights' had turned him into a NASCAR convert at all, Ferrell responded: "Oh definitely, once you've been to one you kind of get swept up by all the energy and the madness, so..."
    Already having proved to be a huge box office success in the United States, 'Talladega Nights' opens in cinemas across the UK on Friday (September 15).
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