And you’re coming out right before the election.
Ferrell: Which is another thing we really pushed for.
Steele: I hope my guy Trump wins. [Group laughs] Me saying that might actually help the cause for the Democrats. Transgender writer Harper Steele loves Donald Trump.
What did you learn about the country in making this movie?
Ferrell: There are pockets of deep hatred—which, once again, I’ll always say is fueled by misinformation and not really stopping and thinking about it and asking questions. But I think folks for the most part just want you to live your life. Even if they have a super strong opinion, they’re like, “Well, that’s your business.” It’s all this propaganda and everything being kind of contrived for clicks.
Steele: Let’s not take away from the fact that there’s a lot of violent crimes directed at trans people.
Ferrell: Right, let’s not paint a sunny picture here. It’s definitely harder for people with less advantages than me to navigate the country. And there is still danger there. I would never want to not say that.
This is a documentary about a trans woman driving across the country, but it’s also, inevitably, about Will Ferrell, the celebrity, driving across the country. How did you approach that balance?
Greenbaum: As Harper will tell you, this was not the average trans experience. I know Harper wanted to go places along the way without Will. Certainly, I did my best to keep this crew as small as possible. We never let anyone know who was coming. because otherwise, you do invite the crowds and that’s not what we were looking for. But you have to acknowledge in any documentary work that cameras do change and alter any given situation.
Harper, as someone who’s about to become a significant public figure, do you have any hopes or plans for how to use that platform—whether creatively or politically?
Steele: I would love to take on more of an activist role. I’m political, but I’m not getting on any stumps anytime soon. I’d like to be more involved in the queer community in any way that I can. I resisted it and I was afraid of it and now I’m not. That’s just been a natural progression for me. That’ll happen and it’ll keep going, and then I’ll get more involved in things I feel strongly about—which is a lot of LGBTQ causes.
In terms of my writing, I wasn’t the most bro-y writer as a bro, which I’m proud of. I think I’ll stick to the plan.
Ferrell: You almost made fun of that style of writing, anyway.
Steele: Well, I did. Thinking of Eurovision—If you’ve ever seen a Eurovision, this is just a flat-out queer environment. And that was really important to me when telling the story of that film. Because I read an article… I’m babbling, I’m sorry.
Ferrell: Oh, we’re used to it. [Group laughs]
Steele: And Josh is like, “Oh yeah, no, she is babbling.” But no, I read an article right before we went to our first Eurovision from this queer writer who wrote a big Eurovision book, and what he said in this Times article was that Eurovision was what the union was supposed to look like—the freedom of expression and all the countries coming together in a much more friendly environment. That’s why I wanted to do it with Will. Before I was out, I knew I was trans, and I was looking at it going, “This is amazing.” My writing had already gone in that direction.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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