Will Ferrell at 57: his two-decade long marriage to wife Viveca Paulin and their striking three sons

Happy birthday, Will Ferrell ! The Hollywood funny man turns 57 on July 16, and he has a family that he can be proud of to mark the big day!

The actor is a dad-of-three, sharing sons Magnus, Mattias, and Axel with his wife of over two decades, Viveca Paulin, 55. The star's clan will often make red carpet appearances alongside him as well.

In honor of the big day, take a look at the actor's life with his longtime partner, the ups and downs in their relationship, their enduring marriage, and their boys…

When they first met

Will and his future wife first laid eyes on each other way back during the summer of 1991, and funnily enough, the first met the Swedish actress in an acting class.

During an appearance on Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler's podcast MeSsy earlier this month, the Barbie star recalled the exact spot they first found each other.

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"South Coast Repertory theatre in Costa Mesa, California where we did a summer professional conservatory program, and that's where we met," he sweetly remembered.

The break up

On the same podcast, Will mentioned that while they quickly fell for each other, things ended up moving a little too quickly, and after just a little bit of dating, they called it quits.

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"It's one of those stories of, we met, at first we were both like, 'Wait a minute, I really like this person,' but it was kind of like too much too fast at too young, like the intensity level was like, 'Oh woah.'" Both actors were still in their 20s at the time.

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However, they remained friends for several years. And a few years later, they fell back into each other and have been together ever since. "So we were just friends, we dated, but then we were just friends for five years and then kind of we circled back to each other."

Married life

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In August 2000, the pair officially tied the knot, and now divide their time between New York City and Orange County, California. And it turns out, they have quite a few things in common.

In an interview with Elle , Will described Viveca as his perfect match because "she totally got my sense of humor. I sent her flowers every day for a week with a card, like, 'You're the fifth-prettiest woman in the office.' She loved it. We had a shorthand with each other."

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As it turns out, Viveca was also the inspiration for one of his movies, and it's probably not your first choice. In 1998, she invited Will to her home country of Sweden, and introduced him for the first time to the Eurovision Song Contest. That served as the background for his 2020 film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga with Rachel McAdams.

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Becoming parents

In 2004, Will and Viveca welcomed their first son, now 20-year-old Magnus. In 2006, they welcomed Mattias, who is now 17. And in 2010, their third son was born, now 14-year-old Axel.

SEE: Will Ferrell's three handsome sons are so grown up — see photos of his beautiful family

The three have inherited their parents' looks, and also their height. Most notably, when joining their dad at the premiere of Barbie last year, Magnus and Mattias towered over their famous parents.

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Magnus is currently a student at his dad's alma mater, the University of Southern California, and is also in a band. The group made headlines in late 2022 when Will joined them onstage for their gig in San Diego, making for a hilarious father-son combo.