Although comedian Will Ferrell has spent much of his professional life impersonating celebrities such as George W. Bush, Janet Reno and Alex Trebek, he says he’s just going to be himself while delivering today’s Class Day speech.

“Under the title of ‘Straight Talk,’ I’m going to give the speech your family, friends and administrators are afraid to give you about going out in the real world,” Ferrell says, although he wouldn’t disclose the specifics of his talk.

Best known for his comic antics on the popular NBC late-night television show Saturday Night Live (SNL), Ferrell’s ascension to movie stardom didn’t always seem likely.

He almost became a sportscaster after earning a degree from the University of Southern California (USC) in sports information. But after surprising successes in improv comedy, Ferrell won the role on SNL which would propel him to the big screen and prominence in the entertainment industry.

California Living

According to those who know him as a child, Ferrell didn’t at first appear to have a knack for comedy.

But performing was in Ferrell’s blood. His father, after all, is a keyboardist for the Righteous Brothers.

As a student at University High School in Irvine, Calif., Ferrell was not the class clown.

“You would never have guessed he’d grow up to be a professional comedian,” says Therese A. Sorey, Ferrell’s sophomore English teacher. “He was very bright, very diligent, and a strong writer. I’ve noticed that funny people tend to be very smart. My honors classes get my jokes more then my other classes do.”

But Sorey recalls that Ferrell’s humor would shine through when he and a friend made morning announcements over the school’s P.A. system.

“One of the things they used to do was imitate Hans and Franz from SNL. They would do those voices to announce...school events and sometimes they’d dress up at assemblies,” she says.

Sorey laughs as she recounts the time she asked Ferrell why he played the kicker position on the school’s football team.

“He said, ‘I thought I’d better pick something that will keep me from getting hurt, so I chose the position where there’s a penalty for hurting me,’” she says. “That showed you how smart he was.”

Planning to become a professional sports journalist, Ferrell worked briefly as a sportscaster for a local cable network before deciding to try his hand at acting.

On a whim, Ferrell signed up for classes in acting and stand-up comedy from the Groundlings, a renowned Los Angeles improv troupe.