Will Ferrell's long, illustrious career has featured plenty of memorable characters, but he must be raking in the most annual royalty cheques via Buddy the Elf. Yes, Elf is by all counts a modern Christmas classic, but when Ferrell was shooting the movie 15 years ago, he wasn't sure if it was going to fly.
Speaking with James Corden, Ferrell revealed he was worried that the movie could tank his movie career. "Yeah there were moments," Ferrell said. "The first two weeks of shooting were kind of all the exteriors in New York and so, you know, still kind of discovering what this movie's going to be and running around New York City in yellow tights."
At the time, Ferrell wasn't a bona fide movie star just yet, so he wasn't sure what to expect. On the street, while filming the movie, he saw, "people recognizing me from Saturday Night Live going, 'Are you okay? What's going on?' and thinking to myself this is either going to be a home run or people are going to go, 'Whatever happened to you? Why did you do that one about the elf?'"
Ferrell wasn't the only person who had reservations about the film while they were shooting. Legendary actor James Caan also wasn't sure what to think of Ferrell's performance in the flick.
"He came up to me at the premiere," Ferrell recalled, "and you know, it had gone great, and people were like, 'Oh my gosh, this is gonna be fantastic', and he's like, 'Hey, I got to tell you something. Every day on set I thought you were way too over the top, but now I see what you're doing. Great job!' So I just love the thought that there we were working every day and he's going back to his hotel room going, 'Jeez, get me out of this one!'"
Enjoy some scenes from Elf below.
Speaking with James Corden, Ferrell revealed he was worried that the movie could tank his movie career. "Yeah there were moments," Ferrell said. "The first two weeks of shooting were kind of all the exteriors in New York and so, you know, still kind of discovering what this movie's going to be and running around New York City in yellow tights."
At the time, Ferrell wasn't a bona fide movie star just yet, so he wasn't sure what to expect. On the street, while filming the movie, he saw, "people recognizing me from Saturday Night Live going, 'Are you okay? What's going on?' and thinking to myself this is either going to be a home run or people are going to go, 'Whatever happened to you? Why did you do that one about the elf?'"
Ferrell wasn't the only person who had reservations about the film while they were shooting. Legendary actor James Caan also wasn't sure what to think of Ferrell's performance in the flick.
"He came up to me at the premiere," Ferrell recalled, "and you know, it had gone great, and people were like, 'Oh my gosh, this is gonna be fantastic', and he's like, 'Hey, I got to tell you something. Every day on set I thought you were way too over the top, but now I see what you're doing. Great job!' So I just love the thought that there we were working every day and he's going back to his hotel room going, 'Jeez, get me out of this one!'"
Enjoy some scenes from Elf below.
