Will Ferrell and Harper Steele insisted the Doc come out before the election

It’s no coincidence that the new Netflix documentary Will & Harper was released just weeks before Election Day.

The film chronicles a cross-country road trip Will Ferrell took with former “Saturday Night Live” head writer Harper Steele shortly after her transition.

“When we met with Netflix, we made it clear that we wanted to get this out before the election,” Ferrell told me at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles. “We wanted it to have enough runway for people to see it and hopefully have important discussions in their living rooms.”

Since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Harper said she has heard from “a lot of parents and kids” who want to see the film.

“We’ve heard from people who say they can’t wait to see this with friends and family who may not share the same viewpoint, and that they’re looking forward to seeing it all together,” Ferrell said. “Hopefully some of this could slowly go away.”

Director Josh Greenbaum admitted that he was nervous about the two not letting each other down in front of the camera. “One of my fears was how open and vulnerable they wanted to be with each other,” he said. “At the end of the day, they’re comedians and I’m friends with a lot of comedians and they’re not always about being open and vulnerable. But just a few days after the shooting, they opened up and that fear was unfounded.”

Ferrell said, “It was amazing how we were able to keep the conversation flowing in the car for six hours a day and the depths we explored.”

While in the film, Steele struggled with revisiting old stomping grounds for the first time as a woman and the hate she and Ferrell faced on social media after being spotted at an Indiana Pacers basketball game and from fans in a Surrounded by a steakhouse in Texas, the two joked that the most difficult times during filming had nothing to do with gender identity. “I hate to sound so flippant, but starting the car in the morning was probably the hardest thing we had to deal with,” Steele said with a laugh.

“Yeah, the car wasn’t good,” Ferrell added.

I also asked them for casting suggestions in case the doc is ever adapted as a scripted film.

Steele said, “I love Hunter Schafer and I feel like I look just like her.”

When Ferrell suggested Leonardo DiCaprio play him, Steele quipped, “He’d probably have to put on some ugly makeup to look like you.”