Will Ferrell offered his thoughts on the source of transphobia in a profile published earlier this week.I think we fear what we dont know, the actor told The Independent. Related Will Ferrell expresses regret for his Janet Reno drag performance on SNL Thats something I wouldnt choose to do now. Ferrell and long-time best friend Harper Steele have been busily promoting their new documentary, Will & Harper, which is currently streaming on Netflix. The film follows the pair on a road trip across the U.S. and has been lauded by critics as a moving and quite funny portrait of their friendship. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Steele, a comedy writer, came out as trans in 2021, later writing a letter to friend and long-time collaborator Ferrell expressing her hope that he would stand by her and speak up for her if she were ever misgendered.According to The Independent, Will & Harper was inspired in part by Steele wondering if she would still be able to travel the country and make friends with strangers as an out trans woman. But on their road trip, Ferrell told the U.K. outlet, the pair met many people who were just You do you youre not a threat.There is hatred out there. Its very real and its very unsafe for trans people in certain situations, Ferrell admitted. But I dont know why trans people are meant to be threatening to me as a cis male. I dont know why Harper is threatening to me.Its so strange to me, because Harper is finally her, Ferrell said, returning to the topic of transphobia. Shes finally who she was always meant to be. Whether or not you can ultimately wrap your head around that, why would you care if somebodys happy? Why is that threatening to you? If the trans community is a threat to you, I think it stems from not being confident or safe with yourself. Steele said that the transphobia in ostensibly left-leaning media outlets like The New York Times is frequently in the background of my head.Its why I first tend to ask reporters who interview me if they believe in me, she said. Do they believe that I exist? That Im valid? Because thats not always part of the conversation. I like to start there. Because there are many people in the liberal community who cant seem to get their heads around it for one reason or another.Will & Harper director Josh Greenbaum told The Independent that everyone involved with the film was aware that it would be perceived as political considering the wave of Republican-backed anti-trans legislation that has swept the country in recent years.But at its core its a very pure, simple story of two friends, Greenbaum said of the doc. I think more hearts and minds can be changed and affected by that. In the climate were in now, if you smell an agenda, or you sniff out that someone is trying to convince you of anything, you lose half the audience. In no sense were we trying to avoid politics, but it didnt feel central to the story we were telling.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.