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This Tuesday, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifiankis' tag-team political comedy "The Campaign" comes to DVD and Blu-ray just in time to potentially screw with your real-life voting plans. And while you've no doubt seen nearly all of the films both of these guys have done, you might find that you know very little about the real men behind the guffaws. We'll remedy that ...
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10. Well, for starters, his first name isn't Will. Ferrell was actually born John William Ferrell, and he is the older of two sons sired by musician Lee Ferrell - who played keyboard and saxophone for the Righteous Brothers. Not only did Lee's nomadic, musician lifestyle lead to the divorce of Ferrell's parents, it made young Will dubious about the entertainment industry.
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9. "The Campaign" is familiar ground for Zach Galifianakis, His uncle, Nick Galifianakis, is a former U.S. Congressman from North Carolina who served from 1967-1973. He ran against Jesse Helms for a Senate seat in 1972.
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8. Although he's known for playing a lot of spazzy jocks, Ferrell actually comes from a pretty athletic background. In high school, he played basketball, baseball and football (he was a kicker, once making 14 field goals and 41 of 50 on extra-point attempts) and he and his wife are avid runners. The couple actually participated in the 2003 Boston Marathon (finishing in just over four hours). Ferrell attended the University of Southern California to pursue a degree in sports journalism with the intention of become a sportscaster.
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7. In fact, it was Ferrell's sportscaster dream that actually paved the way to comedy. While interning at NBC's sports department, he ad-libbed a joke on-air that got a big response. He decided to move back home and start pursuing acting and improv comedy.
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6. Although Zach does have an older brother and a younger sister, he began occasionally appearing onstage and on talk shows as his "twin brother" Seth. Seth's bushy mustache and effeminate Southern-tinged voice was actually something of a dry run for what would become Zach's "Campaign" character, Marty Huggins.
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5. Pre-SNL, Ferrell made a handful of small TV appearances, including an episode of the '90s Fox series "Living Single." Will played a guest (a "roommate from hell") on the fake talk show-within-a-show "Delia." He had one line: "I'm sorry I took a contract out on you."
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4. Zach started his career in 1996, on the sitcom "Boston Common" (he also had a stint as a writer on Saturday Night Live that lasted only two weeks), and even had his own talk show in 2002 on VH1. Ironically, the awkward interview technique that would get him cancelled would later make him an internet sensation years later with his Funny or Die series, "Between Two Ferns." But he owes his big break to a series of web videos he did for Absolut vodka in 2008. Appearing alongside "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" stars Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, the videos involved the trio dressed in drag. Each segment usually ended with explosions of exasperated violence.
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3. Zach was mired in relative obscurity until he chanced into two unlikely musical collaborations. The first was for friend Fiona Apple (Zach lip-syncs the song in her video for "Not About Love"). The second was ... Kanye West? A mutual friend introduced Galifianakis to West, who asked if he'd do a video for "Can't Tell Me Nothing." Given no direction, Galifiankis shot the video on his farm in North Carolina, and it became a viral hit. "I did whatever I wanted," Galifianakis told MTV News. "He told me to just do what I thought would work."
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2. Ferrell's willingness to disrobe has drawn attention to the scar on the upper right side of his abdomen. What's it from? As an infant, Will suffered from a condition known as Pyloric Stenosis, which caused chronic vomiting. The scar is leftover from the corrective surgery.
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11 of 11Next: Hilarious Will Ferrell Inspired Meme
1. One of Galifianakis's final guests on his VH1 series "Late World With Zach Galifianakis," which was actually taped after he was informed his show had been cancelled, was Bradley Cooper, seven years before "The Hangover" would make them both comedy stars.
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