Viveca Paulin
The actress, producer and TV personality Viveca Paulin, was born in Askim, Sweden, on 24th April 1969. Her husband, Will Ferrell, is a household name around the globe, recognized by millions thanks to his starring roles in the “Anchorman” movies and his “Saturday Night Live” tenure amongst dozens of other projects; however, Viveca prefers to keep a lower profile, to the extent that many casual fans of the actor are unaware that he’s married.
Nevertheless, the couple have been husband and wife since 2000, and Will has often gushed about how supportive Viveca is of his demanding career. They met in the early 1990s at an acting class in Los Angeles, and began dating almost immediately; although Viveca was born in Sweden, she was raised in Boston, USA, and studied for a Bachelor’s degree in Art History at Pomona College. As such, there was no language barrier or major cultural differences between the two.
Amazingly, Will and Viveca almost didn’t end up together. After a brief relationship, they decided to be friends for five years; when Will joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live”, which is filmed in New York City, he left California and his future wife behind, and embarked on another relationship.
Nevertheless, the actor still harbored feelings for Viveca. “For me, Viv was the one that got away,” he once recalled. During a visit to L.A., Viveca confessed that she felt the same way, and they began courting each other.
During one of the couple’s first romantic trips to Viveca’s home country, the glamorous blonde introduced Will to “Eurovision”, an experience that would later inspire him to make the movie “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”. By then, Viveca was already a cultured auctioneer and act collector, who had worked at Butterfield & Butterfield and Los Angeles Modern Auctions.
Although many might imagine that Will’s proposal to Viveca was a romantic moment, it was anything but. The “Spirited” star took the auctioneer to the beach where they’d had one of their first dates – a gesture which made Viveca uncomfortable, as going to the beach at night scared her.
In a rare 2014 interview with ArtNews, Viveca explained that her time in auction houses helped her when it came to building her impressive art collection. She and her husband own art by John McLaughlin, Ed Ruscha, Karl Benjamin, Richard Diebenkorns, and Frederick Hammersely to name a few, and are particularly fond of prints.
Quiet as it’s kept, Viveca also has experience in the acting world. She made a brief appearance in Will’s 1998 movie, “A Night at the Roxbury”, and also played Anton Bjornberg’s wife in the TV movie “Younger”. In 2010, she and Will sang the Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Free Bird” to commemorate Conan O’Brien’s last night of hosting “The Tonight Show”.
Viveca and Will share three sons, Magnus, Mattias and Axel, who were born in 2004, 2007, and 2010. According to PEOPLE magazine, the three adolescents are keen soccer players and have taken after their mother, who had played soccer while studying at Pomona – in 2018, the famous couple even created the Viveca Paulin and Will Ferrell Scholarship Fund to support female soccer players at USC.
Other charitable pursuits of the couple’s include their generous donations to Cancer for College, a charity that provides cancer survivors with educational opportunities and scholarships, and the University of Southern California’s Swim with Mike Foundation scholarship campaign, designed to help student athletes who have experienced “catastrophic injury or illness”.
Despite having no social media or being a public figure, Viveca is always willing to support Will and accompany him to red carpet events. Their last big outing was in June 2023, when they attended the Cannes Film Festival in France. Will played it safe in a classic black tuxedo, whereas Viveca took a fashion risk in a purple cape gown.
Lifestyle & Net Worth
As the wife of one of Hollywood’s biggest actors, Viveca enjoys a lifestyle that the average citizen can only dream of. Will is worth $160 million and is the owner of several properties, such as a New York City loft that has been featured in Architectural Digest and other home design magazines. The 2,600sqft apartment started off as a printing shop. and underwent a three-year renovation process, using as many original materials as possible.
Will and Viveca also own an impressive property on the West Coast which belonged to none other than Ellen DeGeneres. The actor purchased the 4000sqft home from Ellen for $9.9 million in 2006; with over two acres of land, four bedrooms, and a beautiful swimming pool, the Los Angeles estate is fit for a king and is fondly described by Will as his “crash pad”.
Just as Viveca invests in art, Will recently invested an unspecified sum of money into the Danish neobank Lunar. The FinTech company and the entertainment mogul announced the news in a 2022 LinkedIn post, with the actor stating: “I am excited to take part in Lunar’s mission to give consumers and businesses more power from their money. By joining Lunar I am expanding my engagement in the Nordic countries, which is close to my heart.
As part of the investment, Will also made a new advert for the company, which raised over $200 million in funding back in July 2021. Although the actor has earned enough money to live more than comfortably for the rest of his life, he appears interested in creating passive income streams. In 2016, the “Saturday Night Live” star became co-owner of Los Angeles FC, as part of a large investment team with other celebrities including basketball legend Magic Johnson, and founder of YouTube Chad Hurley.
Regarding movie roles, Will also has his work cut out with upcoming projects such as his role in the highly anticipated “Barbie” movie, which premieres in cinemas in mid-July 2023. The California native will be playing the head of Mattel, and reportedly earned $2 million for his work.
