Molly Shannon Reveals the 'Dark' Prediction Will Ferrell Made While on “SNL” Together That's Become Eerily Accurate

Victoria EdelFri, April 17, 2026 at 9:14 PM UTC

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Molly Shannon (left) and Will Ferrell in 2025Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty for the Hammer Museum -

Molly Shannon reflected on her friendship of three decades with Will Ferrell

Shannon remembered meeting Ferrell for the first time when she was working as a waitress

Shannon also told a story about Ferrell's "dark" prediction for the future

Molly Shannon met Will Ferrell long before they starred together on Saturday Night Live.

Shannon, 61, opened up about the first time she met Ferrell, 58, on the April 17 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. At the time, Shannon worked at a “cappuccino, scone place.” A comedian from the Groundlings, the famed improv and sketch comedy group in Los Angeles, told her, “Molly, I really want you to meet this really funny guy from the Groundlings named Will Ferrell.”

“So, she brought him into the restaurant . . . and I waited [on] him and and we clicked right away,” she remembered. “And I was like, ‘Can I take your order? It's so nice to meet you, Will.' And he said, ‘I will have a scone.' And so, I brought him a scone and a latte.”

Molly Shannon (left) and Will Ferrell on 'Saturday Night Live'Credit: NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection

That was the end of it. “We've been friends ever since. 30 years,” Shannon said.

The actress eventually went from working at restaurants to appearing on Saturday Night Live, where she was hired in 1995. Ferrell was hired that same year. One of her SNL characters was Miss Colleen, co-host of "Dog Show" with Ferrell. One of her earliest film appearances came in 1998's A Night at the Roxbury, based on an SNL sketch, which starred Ferrell and Chris Kattan. A year later, when Shannon starred in her sketch-based film Superstar, Ferrell also appeared in that film.

Shannon also shared that even though Ferrell is “always upbeat,” “genuine” and “very intelligent,” there was one night that he had a dark prediction while they were making SNL.

“We had just started, and I was so excited like, ‘Oh my god, this job's so great,' ” she remembered. “And Will was kind of dark, and he was like, ‘I don't know. Who knows how long this is going to last?' ”

30 years ago, she remembered Ferrell saying, “I don't know. I just think it's not going to last long, and I think actors are eventually going to be replaced by robots, and they're not going to need human actors anymore.”

Shannon said, “And I was like, ‘What are you crazy?' I was like, ‘You're being so dark.' And he was like, ‘No, I really think we're going to be replaced by robots. They won't need humans.' And I thought he was crazy.”

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Ferrell had a backup plan. “He said, ‘But you know, it would be fine because I could have a job working as a dog groomer or as a UPS driver or as a coach and still be happy.' ”

Will Ferrell (left) and Molly Shannon in 'Superstar'Credit: Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

“But Will was right,” Shannon said. “And we die laughing about it now.” Kimmel joked that Ferrell didn't predict robots replacing UPS drivers, too.

Shannon ultimately left SNL in 2001, and Ferrell departed a year later.

Back in January 2025, Shannon was one of the former SNL stars who spoke to PEOPLE in honor of the show's 50th anniversary.

“We all did this because it's the greatest job in television,” Shannon said. “Underneath it all is love.”

During their chat with PEOPLE, SNL alum Kate McKinnon said, “I started watching [SNL] when I was 12. Watching Molly's characters taught me what I wanted to do, which was to be this full wacky, amazing, joyful odd man out.”

“Oh my god, that's so sweet!” Shannon said. Remembering how she landed a part on the show, she remembered, “I spent all my waitressing money making a five-minute VHS tape. I hired an editor and a guy to shoot it in my little dumpy apartment.” They passed on her tape.

“Then I picked myself back up and worked really hard on my characters,” she said. “They came back around five years later and asked for a tape again. I was like, ‘You have to come see my live show.' ”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”