All About Will Ferrell’s Brother Patrick Ferrell (Who Made a Hilarious Cameo in Elf!)

Will Ferrell and his brother, Patrick Ferrell, both have a taste for performing.

The Blades of Glory star grew up with his sibling in Irvine, Calif. Their mother, Betty Kay Overman, worked as a teacher, while their father, Roy Lee Ferrell, was a musician who played with The Righteous Brothers.

After their parents split in the mid-1970s, Will and Patrick lived with their mom in an apartment complex in Irvine. Roy Lee often traveled for work, and Betty Kay held multiple different jobs, Will said on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast in January 2024.

The two brothers attended the University of Southern California for college and eventually, they went into the entertainment business. Like Will, Patrick became an actor and producer, playing many small roles in his brother’s projects from Saturday Night Live to Elf.

Here’s everything to know about Will Ferrell’s brother — Patrick Ferrell — and his relationship with the fellow actor.

He made Will laugh when they were kids

Will, who has spoken about comedy not being his first career choice, may not have had his eye on Hollywood, but his brother helped develop his love for the performance art.

Speaking to the Victorville Daily Press in 2009, the actor opened up about his sense of humor as a child. He shared that whenever he watched a comedic moment, he wouldn’t laugh and instead say, “Oh, that’s funny.” Still, when Will saw Patrick laughing, it would make him laugh too.

“I would love watching stuff with my brother because things would tickle him, and it would get me going,” Will told the outlet. “I would laugh at watching my brother laugh.”

They both went to the University of Southern California

Will and Patrick were students at the University of Southern California.

Will graduated in 1990 with a degree in sports information — thinking he’d go into sports broadcasting — though he also took some classes in the School of Dramatic Arts, according to USC.

Patrick, on the other hand, went right into the entertainment industry, majoring in film, cinema and video studios for his undergraduate degree, per his LinkedIn. He later studied cinematography and film/video production for his master’s.

While Patrick was attending school, he collaborated with his brother on a comedic short film set at a car dealership called August Blowout. Patrick directed and acted in the short, which was written by Will and his former frequent collaborator, Adam McKay.

They’ve worked on several projects together

Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Patrick became an actor and producer. While he’s worked on his own short projects, he has also had small roles in many of Will’s productions, according to his IMDb.

In the mid-1990s, when Will first started on Saturday Night Live, his brother landed minor parts in the cast, too. From 1996 to 1999, he played various roles and served as a stagehand on a dozen episodes.

Patrick also joined Will in a few movies — from playing a security guard who throws Will’s Buddy the Elf out of a New York City office building in Elf to a precinct detective in The Other Guys alongside Mark Wahlberg.

In 2009, Patrick also hit the Broadway stage with Will during his run of You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush, in which Will played President George Bush. In it, Patrick portrayed a break-dancing secret service agent, per The New York Times.

The following year, he was also credited as an assistant to Will on the set of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

They travel together

In addition to working together, Will and Patrick have also traveled side-by-side.

In 2009, the siblings spent two weeks stopping around Ireland with their dad, Roy Lee, tracing their family’s Irish lineage, per Irish Central.

The family was also in town because Will received the James Joyce literary award at the University College Dublin — an honor given by the school’s Literary and Historical Society’s students recognizing an individual’s success in their given field.

A decade later, in 2019, when Will was filming Eurovision with Rachel McAdams, his brother accompanied him to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The two were spotted out enjoying dinner while Will was taking a break from shooting, per The Scottish Sun.

He got married in 2021

Patrick and his wife, Sarah Grogan, wed on Aug. 7, 2021, at the Church of the Good Shepherd Beverly Hills, Calif., according to her alma mater’s Horizons alumni magazine.