Forte was age 32 before he came to the public's attention on _"Saturday Night Live" in the Alexander Payne film Nebraska, despite rumors that higher profile actors such as Casey Affleck and Paul Rudd were interested in the role.
Member of the Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles
Graduated from Acalanes High School in Lafayette, California in 1988.
His favorite bands are Led Zeppelin , The White Stripes , The Beatles , Pink Floyd and The Strokes.
Collects life preservers and construction helmets.
Has the 36th highest score in the World for the classic video game Donkey Kong! Will played the game a lot while filming A Good Old Fashioned Orgy in Wilmington, NC after seeing the movie The King of Kong . His score can be seen on the official high score website of Twin Galaxies, the official keeper of world records for the Guiness book of records for video and pinball games. Will and his stand-in Leo Daniels (13th highest DK score) on the film A Good Old Fashioned Orgy are supposed to have a Donkey Kong playoff in the near future.
During his audition for SNL he began and ended with skits by cursing. As he walked out the room he gave Lorne Michaels a half-hearted apology. Having the job at "That 70s Show" waiting for him allowed him to go for broke during the audition.
Months before her death, Will filmed his grandmother in Internet ads for his movie The Brothers Solomon , discussing her favorite dessert and questioning the movies title. His mother appeared in the Mothers Day episode of SNL when Will Forte sang a song to her and wedding scene of MacGruber. He also brings staged pictures of his mother and sister on talk show appearances.
Forte goes by his middle name Willis rather than his first name Orville. As a child, his nickname was Billy. Although the fourth with the name Orville Willis Forte, he is the first to go by a variation of the name. His father went by Reb, his grandfather went by Junie, and his Great-Grandfather went by Buster.
In her book, "Girl Walks Into a Bar", Rachel Dratch describes Will Forte and Seth Meyers as two of her comedy non-boyfriends (male friends she relates to as brothers). Dratch and Forte lived on the same block during their time together at SNL and would often have breakfast together.
According to Darrell Hammond , the only time he cracked facing the camera was during his Donald Rumsfeld sketch when Will Forte improvised and kissed him on the cheek twice as George W. Bush.
His mother and two of her friends visited the set during the naked celery scene of MacGruber .
Previously the national spokesperson for the non-profit charity SCIfEyes. Donated $10,000 to the fund in 2005.
While he has often spoke of "being Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)", an article on him at the former website Grantland said that it was unclear if he had ever been officially diagnosed with OCD even though he often brought the subject up. Forte said that he and a former girlfriend once read through a pamphlet on OCD and then answered a quiz set where the pamphlet results/advice set was "You should talk to someone immediately about this." He has also said he is unable to leave any task (even games) un-finished. He claims he was so consumed by one jigsaw puzzle friends took it from him during a party and threw it away.
He was almost electrocuted on the set of The Brothers Solomon when someone in the prop department accidentally plugged the battery pack of his lighted ice skating costume into an actual outlet. He claims it burned his entire chest.
Forte had two movies ( Rock of Ages and Thats My Boy ) released the week of his 42nd birthday.
Will officiated his sisters wedding and filmed the births of his niece and nephew. He discussed finding the right angle to film a birth on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" .
Was voted Class of 1988s Best Personality in high school. He was also student president, a varsity swimmer and on varsity football.
His favorite episode of "Saturday Night Live" was hosted by Betty White. His favorite skit was "The Spelling Bee". His favorite impersonation to do was "Zel Miller".
Was almost fired after the third season of SNL when the cast was considered too bloated and cuts were made. He was the last cast member brought back.
Was the math tutor of Faye Dunaway s 12-year-old son.
"Scrubs" s creator, Bill Lawrence , named a patient on "Scrubs" after Forte, who starred in his previous series, "Clone High" .
Is an avid bowler, volleyball player, runner, karaoke singer (often with friend Jason Sudeikis ) and video gamer.
Forte auditioned twice for SNL. He was offered a position in 2001 but turned it down to produce and write for "That 70s Show" . He decided to audition again in 2002.
On the board of directors for the The National Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness (as of 2012).
As a young man, he and a friend went to see Tony Orlando in Concert during a road trip. From their front row seats, they were brought on stage to talk with Orlando. Will and his friend wrote letters to Orlando to thank him for encouraging them. Orlando wrote letters back, which Forte kept, along with pictures from the concert. When making Thats My Boy , Forte told Orlando the story and brought in the letter to show him. He also brought Orlando to an appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to perform "Knock Three Times" with The Roots house band and Fallon and Forte singing back-up. Forte told the story during his appearance on "Fallon".
Officiated the wedding of The Black Keys drummer Patrick J. Carney and Emily Ward.
Met writing partner John Solomon as a freshman at UCLA in a lecture hall.
Comedy heroes are Steve Martin , David Letterman and Peter Sellers.
Was comedy partner of Mike Schmidt (a writer for "Scrubs" and "Cougar Town" ). One of their routines, the close talkers, was made into an SNL Digital Short starring Forte and Steve Martin.
Good friends with frequent co-star Kristen Wiig.
He claims to have never "broken" character during his time at Groundlings or SNL. He had a standing bet with cast members at Groundlings to pay $100 against their $5 if they could make him laugh, and claims he never lost. He counts fellow Groundlings/SNL cast member Chris Parnell as another comic who never breaks.
Purchased new clothing to wear during the Cannes Film Festival only to have his baggage lost on the flight.
He has English, as well as smaller amounts of French-Canadian, Irish, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and Dutch ancestry. His surname originates with his paternal great-great-grandfather, Nepthali Forte, who was a French-Canadian immigrant to Massachusetts.
After making Nebraska , Forte was impressed when Jack Nicholson , longtime friend of Fortes co-star Bruce Dern , threw a screening party, which was attended by Mickey Rooney and Peter Fonda. "It was so exciting to be in that room", Forte said.
Son of Patti Forte.
Attended the weddings of his "Saturday Night Live" cast members and good friends, Seth Meyers and Andy Samberg , in character as "Hamilton", his white supremacist but ultimately good-hearted character from the show. At Meyers wedding to Alexi Ashe Meyers , most of Meyers relatives had never seen or heard of "Hamilton" and were shocked when he described Ashes great beauty and then wondered aloud (in-character) how she could marry "a hook nose". Samberg enjoyed the bit so much he asked Forte to do a "Hamilton" toast at his wedding to Joanna Newsom , and Forte spent a lot of time coming up with an entirely new set of jokes, before doing just that. At both weddings, Forte didnt break character until "Hamilton" walked off after his shocking monologues, and quickly changed into formal wear and returned to the party, as if nothing had happened.
Friends with Colin Jost.
It was such a delight to be on the show and a real family atmosphere,but it was just time to move on.
