Inside Will Ferrell’s Private World With Wife Viveca Paulin & 3 Kids

Jul 18, 2026 - 16:14

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Inside Will Ferrell’s Private World With Wife Viveca Paulin & 3 Kids

See Will Ferrell's Sons Magnus, Mattias Troll Him in Rare Interview

For Will Ferrell, being funny is just par for the course.

So, his wife Viveca Paulin and their sons Magnus, 22, Mattias, 19 and Axel, 16, have learned to tee up for his jokes.

"Children are overrated. I’m annoyed by them. I don’t even know why we had kids," Ferrell teased on the July 7 episode of All the Smoke. "They eat your food. They’re a money and time suck. They don’t empty the dishwasher, take out the trash or do anything."

But in all seriousness, the comedian knows he hit a hole in one with his family. In fact, he brought his eldest sons to the Los Angeles premiere of his new golf comedy The Hawk on July 9. And while the kids have walked red carpets, attended award shows and sat courtside with their dad before, Ferrell and Paulin know the importance of keeping their children grounded.

"We’ve always tried to impart with our boys that, 'OK, you’re going to grow up in Hollywood, you’re going to grow up in L.A. and that’s just a part of it,'" the Anchorman star continued. "You have to say please and thank you, you have to look people in the eye, you have to shake their hand."

And though many—including Ron Burgundy—would argue he’s kind of a big deal, Ferrell’s love story with Paulin began before he was famous.

The two met at the South Coast Repertory’s acting program in his home state of California after he graduated from USC in 1990. And while they initially started dating, the Swedish actress decided the Elf actor should just be her buddy.

"She was the more mature [one],” Ferrell acknowledged on the July 1 episode of IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. "She was like, 'What are we going to do though? Where’s this going?’ We were just both kind of the one that got away for each other for a while."

Karwai Tang/WireImage

For the next five years, the pair remained friends. They dated other people, and Ferrell switched coasts to join the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1995. But their relationship shifted from platonic to romantic when he traveled from New York back to California in 1996.

As a "diehard Laker fan," Ferrell continued, he knew he liked Paulin when he opted to miss the first round of the Western Conference playoffs between the L.A. Lakers and the Houston Rockets for a walk with her through Runyon Canyon. Afterwards, she invited him to her place for a beer.

"She gives me a beer, and she drank her beer in two sips," he recalled on the podcast. "So she drinks it and she’s like, 'Do you want another one?' I go, 'I haven’t even finished the first one….Sure.' So, I’m double-fisting, and she’s really nervous."

Paulin then confessed her feelings for Ferrell.

"She’s like, ‘So, I just want to tell you, I still really like you,'" he added. "I said, 'What?' Of course, I can’t play it cool. I go, 'You’re not gonna believe [this]. I just told my uncle if there’s anyone I would marry, it’s you.'"

Dominik Bindl/WireImage

Still, the Talladega Nights alum and the former Pomona College soccer player didn’t race off to the altar right away. In fact, Ferrell said that when Paulin drove him home and he tried to kiss her, she gave him the cheek. So, he added, they stayed in this “weird” friend zone and she continued seeing someone else. But when the season of SNL was over, Paulin informed Ferrell that she was single.

They began dating long-distance, with her in California and him in New York (a 1998 visit to her family in Sweden even helped inspire his 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga). Ferrell then proposed to Paulin at Woods Cove in Laguna Beach, where they had their first date.

"It was the middle of the night, and I was like, 'Honey, does this place look familiar?'" the Blades of Glory star said on Live With Kelly and Ryan in 2020. "And she’s like, 'The beach at night is creepy.'"

With the significance of the location not ringing a cowbell and the proposal "going downhill so quickly," Ferrell continued, he pulled out the 1950s diamond ring he knew she’d wanted that he’d purchased at an auction. But she was too stunned to reply.

"I was like, 'Are you going to say yes?'" he continued. "And she’s like, 'Oh yeah, yeah sure, but how did you get the ring?'"

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

The couple wed in 2000 and welcomed son Magnus four years later. Brother Mattias arrived in 2006 followed by Axel in 2010. And as their family and Ferrell’s career grew, their shared sense of humor remained the same.

For Valentine’s Day, for instance, "I usually write little messages like, 'My love for you has increased over the years by 3 percent,'" Ferrell told Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. "And she, luckily for me, thinks that’s really funny."

But growing up, the kids didn’t always find their dad hilarious. Like when Magnus recalled on TikTok how his father “dressed up as a medieval lord to embarrass me at prom.” But when it comes to incorporating comedy into parenting, Ferrell found that 60 percent of the time, it works every time.

When the kids would argue, "I’d just try to find fun ways to diffuse the tension," the 59-year-old added on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson's podcast. "There’d be a big argument, and then I would just leave for a little while and just come out in my underwear, nothing but my underwear, and go, 'Guys, we’ve got to be serious about this, OK? Look at me, listen to me.' They’d just start [laughing]."

Or, he’d have them put their hands in the middle and say, “hermanos siempres, which is brothers always,” he continued. “They’re like, 'What?' 'Just say it.'"

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

But rather than pressure their kids to follow in his comedic footsteps, Ferrell and Paulin encouraged them to pursue their own interests—like sports.

"Magnus is a big soccer player," Ferrell added. "Mattias is basketball and volleyball and Axel’s basketball and volleyball."

He also noted "the boys all grew up playing piano." In fact, Magnus is a singer and signed with Republic Records. "Then Mattias is doing some acting stuff and Axel’s playing ball for right now," Ferrell continued, "but he can sing too."

And as they follow their dreams, they know they can count on their parents’ support.

"It’s so tough out there, and they’re finding stuff they’re just passionate about," Ferrell added, "and it’s just like, ‘Go!'"

If you’d like to go down memory lane and look at more of Ferrell’s roles in honor of The Hawk streaming on Netflix, read on.

Paramount Pictures

A Night at the Roxbury

As one of Will Ferrell's first movies, A Night at the Roxbury has a special place in a lot of people's hearts. It follows Steve (Ferrell) and Doug Butabi (Chris Kattan) as they try to get into the coolest club in town...The Roxbury. It is based on the hilarious Saturday Night Live sketch "The Roxbury Guys" and although there is a lot of head bobbing, we still laugh every time we see it.

Getty Images

Superstar

In 1999, Ferrell played not one, but two funny roles in Superstar, which was about Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon), a Catholic schoolgirl who dreams of superstardom. Ferrell was Jesus (in a vision to Mary) as well as Mary Katherine Gallagher's dream date, and the coolest guy in school, Sky Corrigan.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Zoolander

He invented the piano key necktie! In both Zoolander and Zoolander 2, the California native played the super intense fashion designer, Mugatu. He had a strange sense of style, obsession with Hansel (so hot right now) and tricked dumb male models into killing political figures. Oh, and he had a hairstyle that we will never forget.

DreamWorks Pictures

Old School

We're going streaking! In 2003, Ferrell brought us Frank the Tank in Old School and for fans of college-based movies this movie is one of the best of the best...even if the guys weren't in college. Instead, they were instead trying to stay young and opened a fraternity near the college they once attended. So funny.

Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic)

Elf

Buddy the Elf is one of Ferrell's most beloved characters. If you don't have a soft spot for Buddy and his elf culture (especially around the holidays) then we can't be friends. OK, that's a little harsh, but how can you not love and laugh with an adult elf who wears a costume every day and thinks spaghetti with syrup is a good dinner choice?

DreamWorks Pictures

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

2004 gave fans Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and we've never looked back. In this iconic comedy the actor portrayed San Diego's top-rated newsman, Ron Burgundy, in the 1970s as the station begins to switch things up and add women into their male-dominated field. Hilarity ensues when Ron begins to fall apart and can no longer read the news.

Universal Pictures

Kicking & Screaming

Kicking & Screaming might be one of Ferrell's most underrated comedies. In this 2005 film, he plays Phil Weston, who always seems to be competing with his father and never winning. So, when his son doesn't get any playing time on his dad's soccer team, he creates his own team and gets a little too competitive. There is a giant tiger tracksuit, a coffee machine that travels with him, and screaming at kids. All of which is hilarious.

Sony Pictures

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Oh, Ricky Bobby. In this movie Ferrell plays NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby—who is talented, but when his No. 1 status on the track is challenged and he gets into an accident, he must re-train himself to be the champion everyone knows him to be.

DreamWorks

Blades of Glory

Ferrell as a figure skater? Yes, please! After being stripped of his gold medal, Ferrell's Chazz Michael Michaels must team up with his rival in pairs skating in order to compete at the next Olympic games...and it's not an easy road to haul.

George Pimentel/WireImage

Semi-Pro

Is there any sport that this comedian can't pretend to play? In Semi-Pro, Ferrell switched out his blades for basketball shoes as Jackie Moon, who plays, owns and coaches the Flint Michigan Tropics as they try to make their NBA dreams come true.

VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images

Step Brothers

Sharing your family with someone else isn't exactly easy. Take it from Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (John C. Reilly), who become roommates when their parents decide to get remarried...despite the fact that they are both middle-aged men. Oh, and another thing, you can't just make bunk beds. These two learned that the hard way as well.

Columbia Pictures

The Other Guys

The Other Guys was the first movie costarring Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, and now we want them in every movie together. In this film, the two are detectives that aren't exactly the top cops in the city, but despite their lack of strength and closing rate they work together to make a big sting and earn some respect in New York City.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Campaign

We all knew the day would come when Ferrell would go political in a movie and it finally happened in 2012 with The Campaign, which also starred Zach Galifianakis.

Patti Perret 2014 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Get Hard

Get Hard is the movie we didn't know we needed from Ferrell. It follows his character James King as he prepares to go to jail for fraud and takes lessons on how to toughen up from Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart). It's ridiculous and so funny.

Paramount Pictures

Daddy's Home

Instead of playing partners, Daddy's Home shows Ferrell and Wahlberg as competing fathers. Brad (Ferrell) is trying to get his stepchildren to love him when their real dad Dusty (Wahlberg) rides into town and makes things a lot harder on him.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The House

In 2017, the funny guy teamed up with Amy Poehler in The House and things got crazy. As their daughter prepares to go away to college, the couple starts an illegal casino to make enough money to send their daughter to school. What could go wrong?

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