LONDON: Will Ferrell once had to spend a day calling members of his family — to assure them he was still alive.

The Anchorman star was incorrectly named as the victim of a hang gliding accident. He says, “It was this crazy rumour that I had died and it was not fun to go through. It was rough.”

“My publicist told me about it and I had to call my family and make sure they didn’t hear it first — and believe it.”

But Ferrell is getting used to hearing and reading strange rumours about himself.

He said, “I heard that I was a germaphobe, and I carry my own pen to sign autographs. Crazy.”