Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Trivia (36)

Graduated from Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California in 1988.



Collects life preservers and construction helmets.





During his audition for SNL he began and ended with skits by cursing. As he walked out the room he gave Lorne Michaels a half-hearted apology. Having the job at Die wilden 70er (1998) waiting for him allowed him to go for broke during the audition.



Months before her death, Will filmed his grandmother in Internet ads for his movie Die Solomon Brüder (2007), discussing her favorite dessert and questioning the movie's title. His mother appeared in the Mother's Day episode of SNL when Will Forte sang a song to her and wedding scene of MacGruber. He also brings staged pictures of his mother and sister on talk show appearances.

Forte goes by his middle name Willis rather than his first name Orville. As a child, his nickname was Billy. Although the fourth with the name Orville Willis Forte, he is the first to go by a variation of the name. His father went by Reb, his grandfather went by Junie, and his Great-Grandfather went by Buster.





In her book, "Girl Walks Into a Bar", Rachel Dratch describes Will Forte and Seth Meyers as two of her comedy non-boyfriends (male friends she relates to as brothers). Dratch and Forte lived on the same block during their time together at SNL and would often have breakfast together.



According to Darrell Hammond , the only time he cracked facing the camera was during his Donald Rumsfeld sketch when Will Forte improvised and kissed him on the cheek twice as George W. Bush



His mother and two of her friends visited the set during the naked celery scene of MacGruber (2010).

Previously the national spokesperson for the non-profit charity SCIfEyes. Donated $10,000 to the fund in 2005.



While he has often spoke of "being Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)", an article on him at the former website Grantland said that it was unclear if he had ever been officially diagnosed with OCD even though he often brought the subject up. Forte said that he and a former girlfriend once read through a pamphlet on OCD and then answered a quiz set where the pamphlet results/advice set was "You should talk to someone immediately about this." He has also said he is unable to leave any task (even games) un-finished. He claims he was so consumed by one jigsaw puzzle friends took it from him during a party and threw it away.





He was almost electrocuted on the set of Die Solomon Brüder (2007) when someone in the prop department accidentally plugged the battery pack of his lighted ice skating costume into an actual outlet. He claims it burned his entire chest.



Will officiated his sister's wedding and filmed the births of his niece and nephew. He discussed finding the right angle to film a birth on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009).

Was voted Class of 1988's Best Personality in high school. He was also student president, a varsity swimmer and on varsity football.





Was almost fired after the third season of Saturday Night Live (1975) when the cast was considered too bloated and cuts were made. He was the last cast member brought back.



His favorite episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) was hosted by Betty White . His favorite skit was "The Spelling Bee". His favorite impersonation to do was "Zel Miller".



Was the math tutor of Faye Dunaway 's 12-year-old son.



Is an avid bowler, volleyball player, runner, karaoke singer (often with friend Jason Sudeikis ) and video gamer.



Forte auditioned twice for SNL. He was offered a position in 2001 but turned it down to produce and write for Die wilden 70er (1998). He decided to audition again in 2002.

On the board of directors for the The National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (as of 2012).





As a young man, he and a friend went to see Tony Orlando in Concert during a road trip. From their front row seats, they were brought on stage to talk with Orlando. Will and his friend wrote letters to Orlando to thank him for encouraging them. Orlando wrote letters back, which Forte kept, along with pictures from the concert. When making Der Chaos-Dad (2012), Forte told Orlando the story and brought in the letter to show him. He also brought Orlando to an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009) to perform "Knock Three Times" with The Roots house band and Fallon and Forte singing back-up. Forte told the story during his appearance on "Fallon".



Met writing partner John Solomon as a freshman at UCLA in a lecture hall.



Good friends with frequent co-star Kristen Wiig



He claims to have never "broken" character during his time at Groundlings or SNL. He had a standing bet with cast members at Groundlings to pay $100 against their $5 if they could make him laugh, and claims he never lost. He counts fellow Groundlings/SNL cast member Chris Parnell as another comic who never breaks.

Purchased new clothing to wear during the Cannes Film Festival only to have his baggage lost on the flight.



He has English, as well as smaller amounts of French-Canadian, Irish, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and Dutch ancestry. His surname originates with his paternal great-great-grandfather, Nepthali Forte, who was a French-Canadian immigrant to Massachusetts.





Attended the weddings of his Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members and good friends, Seth Meyers and Andy Samberg , in character as "Hamilton", his white supremacist but ultimately good-hearted character from the show. At Meyers' wedding to Alexi Ashe Meyers , most of Meyers' relatives had never seen or heard of "Hamilton" and were shocked when he described Ashe's great beauty and then wondered aloud (in-character) how she could marry "a hook nose". Samberg enjoyed the bit so much he asked Forte to do a "Hamilton" toast at his wedding to Joanna Newsom , and Forte spent a lot of time coming up with an entirely new set of jokes, before doing just that. At both weddings, Forte didn't break character until "Hamilton" walked off after his shocking monologues, and quickly changed into formal wear and returned to the party, as if nothing had happened.

Personal Quotes (15)

"There's kind of a weird, intense energy that flows through the place. I tend to get in there about 3 or 4 in the afternoon and get out around 8 a.m. Wednesday. You end up drinking a massive amount of coffee and downing a lot of Funions." (On the Tuesday-night "SNL" writing regime)



[discussing his liberal upbringing and love of playing dress-up as a child] If I had become a cross-dresser it would have taken her just a second because my mom is very supportive and she would have loved me anyway.



I have been in a lot of things, but maybe I've cursed them all.



I'll check my stove all the time, but I haven't used the stove in 8 years. An old girlfriend of mine, we went through this test you could take on-line to see if you are OCD or not and at the end, it said get help immediately.



I don't know if I was a funny kid. I would say I was a loud and weird kid.



[on why he often seems restrained during interviews] I just didn't want to be the kind of person who always seemed like they were ON. That would annoy me when there seemed to be people who always seem to be on.



[on why he wears fake mustaches in comedies] There is something about a person who wears a mustache that is...they just don't quite get it. It takes a unique person in our society to wear a mustache.



[on why he left SNL] I left because I had just turned 40, I'd been there for 8 years, my family was all in California, its a grueling schedule. It was such a delight to be on the show and a real family atmosphere, but it was just time to move on.





[asked by Larry King if there were any personal ticks he wish he didn't have] I feel like all my faults go into making the person that I am. I like myself as a person. And I think taking any fault away would change who I am as a person. These OCD really probably helped me as a comedian.



[on working with Bruce Dern ] It's like watching him pull a rabbit out of a hat in every scene. I don't know what he's doing. It's magic. And I love it.



[on traveling to the American heartland to film Nebraska (2013)] I went in intimidated by the process. But [director] Alexander Payne and Bruce Dern put me at ease from the start. They made me feel like I was part of the club and that I belonged there. I have a habit of over-thinking everything but they found a way to get me out of my head. And that was really just talking to me, and nurturing me. I'm a weird combination of self-doubt and extreme confidence. [Dern] would always talk about the truth and finding the truth in what you are going for. It was more teaching without teaching. It was just know what's going.



[re making Nebraska (2013)] It's certainly a lot of corn, Nebraska, but I found it really beautiful. I thought it was going to be this real monotonous visual experience, and it wasn't. There was a lot of texture to it. It kept reminding me of a van Gogh painting - these big beautiful circular corn husk bales, the way the light would hit them and the shadows they'd cast. Brilliant hues of yellow - it was really striking.



[re Nebraska (2013)] I am a pretty realistic person, and I was just as shocked to get this part as people were shocked to hear that I got the part...You talk to your agents and managers, you try to develop this plan. Nowhere in any of these plans of 'here's what the strategy should be' was there, like 'and then you'll try to get into an 'Alexander Payne' movie.' That wasn't even something that we would have ever entertained in a million years...If I get to do something else like this, it would be awesome, but just to get to do something like this once is enough for me.



That period in between getting the part and starting work on the movie ( Nebraska (2013)) was an anxiety-riddled period...I really had no formal acting training, but I didn't know what it was like to go to a natural drama class or an acting class. So in my head, I would think, 'Oh, at a class like that they have these pearls of wisdom that everybody who is part of "Nebraska" has, except me'...Basically, when you watch this movie you're watching somebody who's in the process of being taught by a legendary actor and an amazing director. I learned so much from this experience.

I hold on to everything a little too tight. I'm a little OCD and control-freakish. Also trying to figure out the balance of work and life. This is my dream, but is it worth it to not ever see your family? I drive myself crazy and just try to get out there something that I'm proud of. Which is crazy to say, because it's 50% fart jokes.

