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The history between Chad Smith and Will Ferrell is going on twenty years at this point if you believe Smith’s story about their first meeting. As he told Spin magazine during a Q&A for their drum-off back in 2014, Smith first heard that people thought he looked like Ferrell around the time of The Ladies Man premiere back in 2000. It was there that they came face-to-face and a legend was born:
There was a screening of the film at Paramount in Hollywood. At the time I was dating a girl who worked there. I went to the screening, and you were there and all the actors were there, and after the film there was a little reception thing and cocktails and little, you know, table with food and chicken skewers and shrimp whatevers. And you were over there getting your food, and I was like, “I’m not going to go over. I’m not going to be that guy, like, heyyyy, [untranscribable gurgling noise].”
But I’m over there, filling my plate with food, and there was a gentleman standing between us. And sure enough, he walks away, and we both turned at the same time to each other with our plates of food. And you just looked me up and down really quick and said, “You’re very handsome.” Do you remember that at all?
From there Ferrell addressed it during a Reddit AMA three years ago and the pair appeared for a charity drum off during The Tonight Show. It has become a fun distraction for the pair and it gave us another moment during a recent performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer where a fan called him “Will Ferrell” during a break between songs. In classic Ferrell fashion, Smith storms off the stage and refuses to come back until the crowd chants for him:
“Hey, who said that? You? Motherf*cker. Listen, are you a musician? What do you play? That’s right, you call me sir I’m like 100 years old. What do you play? A drummer. Why did you say that? Because you love me? You love me and you go, ‘Will Ferrell.’
I’m not Will Ferrell you idiot! I’m just f*cking with you, I don’t give a shit, I think it’s great. I’m f*cking famous because of Will Ferrell, f*ck that guy, right! I was in a low key rock band for awhile, then that idiot said, ‘Oh you look like..’ The next thing people on the street go, ‘Hey man, you’re really funny.’”
Most of the folks on Reddit seem to think this was real and Smith was actually upset, but the account that uploaded the clip made it clear that the drummer was joking. Now we just need Ferrell showing up somewhere with a sock on his junk and the circle will be complete.