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Will Ferrell thinks his 'SNL' portrayal of George W. Bush influenced the 2000 election

Will Ferrell thinks his 'SNL' portrayal of George W. Bush influenced the 2000 election

Jason Guerrasio

NBC/"Saturday Night Live"

The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night with the world premiere of "Live From New York!," a documentary which looks back on 40 years of "Saturday Night Live" history.

The film, directed by Bao Nguyen, was full of revealing moments through interviews with the show's creator, Lorne Michaels, and the "Not Ready For Primetime" alums.

One moment that especially stood out was Will Ferrell's thoughts on his portrayal of George W. Bush on the show.

Ferrell said in the doc that he believed the popularity of him playing Bush on the sketch show humanized the real George W. to the country. He implied that this may have influenced voters to choose Bush in the 2000 election - in which Bush won over Vice President Al Gore by only a few hundred votes - and his re-election in 2004.

Throughout Bush's presidency, Ferrell played Bush as a dim-witted, hard-partying, good ol' boy.

Yahoo/"Saturday Night Live"

Ferrell as Bush was so popular, in fact, that he played the character on Broadway in the one-man show titled "Will Ferrell: You're Welcome, America: A Final Night with George W. Bush" towards the end of the real Bush's presidency.

Bryan Bedder/Getty

In "Live From New York!" Ferrell also notes that Darrell Hammond's rigid, robotic-like portrayal of Al Gore in the 2000 election sketches didn't help people's perception of the politician.

Yahoo/"Saturday Night Live"

Here's the first "SNL" Bush/Gore debate sketch from 2000.

"Live from New York!" is currently playing at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Will Ferrell thinks his 'SNL' portrayal of George W. Bush influenced the 2000 election

Jason Guerrasio

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