Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon on ‘The Hawk,’ Pizza, Family and More

Welcome back to the Pizza Interview, a series from New York Times Cooking where the Q&A has a catch: Our guests have to make pizza.

Starting with “Saturday Night Live” in 1995, Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon have worked alongside one another for more than 30 years, collaborating on projects like “A Night at the Roxbury,” “Superstar” and the new Netflix series “The Hawk,” where they play Lonnie and Stacy Hawkins, an estranged couple. Now, they’re sharing the kitchen.

Below or on YouTube, watch the stars and longtime friends sling some pies while chatting about food, their new show, their former “S.N.L.” castmates and more.

Here are excerpts from the interview and the outtakes, which have been edited and condensed.

Have you ever made a pizza before?

MOLLY SHANNON I have, yes, with my family.

WILL FERRELL Yes, I’ve done the same. This is a lot of responsibility today. I usually help in a certain aspect of the pizza-making, but this is a heavy lift for me.

SHANNON The toppings part seems pretty easy, but making sure the dough is correct seems like a real art.

Do you like to cook?

SHANNON I do. I love to cook. I have a few entrees that I can make for my kids.

FERRELL What are your go-to entrees?

SHANNON Go-to entrees. Tacos, I’ve gotten really good at. I can do a good Cornish game hen or roast chicken. I make excellent scrambled eggs with Gruyère cheese, sausage, onions, and it is delicious.

FERRELL Oh my God.

SHANNON Doesn’t that sound good, Will?

FERRELL Abbondanza.

SHANNON What about you?

FERRELL Uh, nope. None of the above. I’m more of a sous-chef, helping around. I can clean a countertop really effectively.

What’s your favorite pizza place?

FERRELL Well, in L.A. I love a place called Triple Beam Pizza. Also, Antico Nuovo makes an amazing pizza.

When you were growing up, what was your family’s pizza order?

FERRELL Just standard pepperoni.

SHANNON We never really had pizza growing up in Cleveland.

FERRELL It doesn’t exist in Cleveland.

SHANNON No pizza!

FERRELL Fun fact: There’s no pizza in Cleveland.

Have you ever worked in the food service industry?

SHANNON Yes, I worked in the food service industry for years and years. I was more known as a waitress in Los Angeles. I worked at a place called Cravings, and people loved the grilled lemon chicken salad at the restaurant.

FERRELL Yeah, didn’t people shout at you?

SHANNON They’d be like, [points finger] “Grilled lemon chicken salad!” They associated me with the good salad because I was the hostess of the restaurant.

FERRELL I never worked in the food industry. I never waited tables because I just knew I’d be immediately fired. I don’t have the executive functioning skills to keep track of patrons.

Will, you co-created “The Hawk” with your longtime friend, Harper Steele. Were there any elements of your friendship that she put into the show?

FERRELL I think she infused a longtime working relationship, knowing how to specifically write for my voice and adapting perfectly to the tone of what we were doing. She can kind of write anything.

Molly, what was your favorite dish from “Delicious Dish”?

SHANNON “Delicious Dish.” Well, that would be the Schweddy Balls, of course.

If you’re in a grocery store and you’re hungry, what are you putting in your cart?

SHANNON I love salt-and-vinegar Lay’s potato chips. They’re great for the voice because they help clear the throat.

FERRELL Really?

SHANNON Salt-and-vinegar potato chips before I do voice work, yeah. And pineapple has bromelain; it clears the mucus. How about that, Will?

FERRELL Whoa.

SHANNON Good tricks!

FERRELL Yeah, really good tricks. If I have a hunger pang, I’ll go through the produce section. I just look for a fresh head of cabbage, and I’ll just eat it like an apple throughout the market. Just a bite of cabbage while I’m walking and shopping. I usually finish a whole head of cabbage before — and I don’t have to pay for it.

SHANNON Would you ever open up the food while you’re shopping at the grocery store and eat it before you paid?

FERRELL No, but I remember — I have memories of my mom doing that as a kid. I thought that was so indulgent.

SHANNON Kay Ferrell?

FERRELL To already have a bite before you even pay for it? Crazy.

SHANNON Kay and I do the same thing because I do it, too. So I love that she does that.

Will, your character mentions a lot of American chain restaurants throughout the season. Is there a reason for this?

FERRELL Lonnie’s not a very fancy guy. Lonnie’s a man of the people. He’d rather live on his tour bus and hang out and meet the common folk at a Walmart. I mean, the only thing that’s slightly exotic about him is that he enjoys a chilled glass of white wine, preferably something from the Willamette Valley. He likes to repeat that a lot, but I don’t think he knows where the Willamette Valley is — which is in Oregon! A lot of wines come out of Oregon.

Do you each have a favorite chain restaurant?

SHANNON I used to go to Sizzler a lot when I was in college, and I thought it was delicious.

FERRELL There was a place in L.A. growing up as a kid that I really wanted to go to. I don’t think I ever went to before it went bankrupt, but it was called Love’s, and it was a rib place. And they had these beauty shots of ribs in the commercial, and it had this baritone singer who would sing the song. [singing] “When you’re in Love’s, when you’re in Love’s, when you’re in Love’s. The whole world’s delicious.” I used to just go, “God, I want to go to Love’s.” I guess that doesn’t answer the question.

If you were to open a restaurant, which of your former “S.N.L.” castmates would you hire, and what would their roles be?

SHANNON I would hire Will for sure and then ——

FERRELL You don’t have to hire me if you don’t ——

SHANNON I want to. Tim Meadows as a bartender. Maybe Ana Gasteyer because she’s a very good cook. And maybe Rachel Dratch as the hostess.

FERRELL Yeah, I would hire Ana. Chris Kattan, he’d be silly all the time. Keep it light because the kitchen is a high-stress environment, if you’ve watched “The Bear.” But don’t. Watch “The Hawk.” Please. Let’s not get off topic.

If you were a food dish, what would you be? Can you answer for each other?

FERRELL I think Molly would be a chocolate soufflé because it’s elegant. You have to be very precise with it because you don’t want the soufflé to fall. And they’re very sweet like Molly.

SHANNON Aw, that’s so sweet. I think I would have Will be a delicious, crispy baked potato because it’s my favorite food. And it’d be crispy on the outside with butter, salt because you’re very salty.

FERRELL Sometimes.

SHANNON [laughs] Sometimes.

FERRELL Sour cream? Chives?

SHANNON Sour cream, chives, bacon. It’s also something Lonnie Hawkins loves to eat, too, with his steak and his glass of sauvy b.

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