What To Know
- Will Ferrell appeared on Today With Jenna & Sheinelle to promote his new Netflix series, The Hawk.
- The actor made Jenna Bush Hager burst into laughter by impersonating her dad, former President George W. Bush.
- Ferrell famously parodied the former president during his time on Saturday Night Live.
Will Ferrell left Jenna Bush Hager in a puddle of laughs on Today With Jenna & Sheinelle.
Ferrell and the cast of his new Netflix series, The Hawk, stopped by the fourth hour of Today on Thursday, July 16, to celebrate the show’s release. The comedy stars Ferrell as former golf champion Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins, who is looking to climb his way back to the top of the sport and secure a career Grand Slam.
In honor of the show, Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones challenged the cast — including Molly Shannon, Luke Wilson, Fortune Feimster, and Jimmy Tatro — to a game of “Put or Dare.” If a person missed a putt, they would have to complete a dare given by the hosts.
“If you miss this, you have to give us three celebrity impressions, impersonations,” Bush Hager told Ferrell before his turn, going on to joke, “You’ve never done one of those before!”
Ferrell ultimately missed and began his dare by reprising his role as Ron Burgundy from the Anchorman films. “I would have made that out, but I had too many distractions here in the newsroom, and it wasn’t on the prompter,” Ferrell said in-character.
Next, Ferrell channeled his famous Saturday Night Live impression of sports commentator Harry Caray. “Hey, everybody! Golf’s an annoying game. I don’t get it,” he stated. “You gotta smack a little, white ball around. The only good thing about golf is you get to drink as much cool Budweiser as possible.”
Ferrell began his last impersonation by stating, “Here’s the thing about golf…” Jones excitedly jumped up and down upon realizing Ferrell was doing his famous impression of Bush Hager’s dad, former President George W. Bush, which he notably did throughout his run on SNL. “I was hoping this was coming,” Bush Hager exclaimed.
Talking to Bush Hager, Ferrell continued, “We used to talk about this when you were just a little girl. You need a lot of strategery to get the ball in the hole. That’s your dad.”
Bush Hager wrapped up the segment by presenting Ferrell with a cowboy-shaped cake for his birthday, a nod to his famous SNL sketch “More Cowbell.”
While Ferrell portrayed her dad on SNL, Bush Hager and her twin sister, Barbara Bush, were also famously parodied by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey in a 2005 SNL sketch. Back in February 2025, Poehler reflected on playing Bush Hager while co-hosting the fourth hour of Today.
‘Saturday Night Live’/YouTube
“Thank you for having such a good sense of humor, and I think we had fun in that sketch. We didn’t come too hard,” Poehler told Bush Hager. “But it’s not always easy to sit next to the person that you impersonated.”
Bush Hager noted that she had already graduated from college and was working as a teacher when Poehler parodied her teenage self. “You still got a lot right,” she quipped.
Today With Jenna & Sheinelle, Weekdays, 10 am, NBC
The Hawk, Now Streaming, Netflix