In a recent interview on Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler’s Messy podcast, Will Ferrell shared some behind-the-scenes details about filming the Christmas classic Elf with the late James Caan. Turns out, Caan wasn’t exactly a fan of Ferrell’s humor at first.
Ferrell revealed that Caan found his constant joking on set to be annoying, just like his character in the film. “I’m not like ‘on’ all the time. In between set ups, [Caan] would be like, ‘I don’t get you. You’re not funny,'” Ferrell recalled. But everything changed when Caan saw the final cut of the movie.
Walking out of the premiere together, Caan turned to Ferrell and admitted, “I’ve got to tell you: I thought everything you were doing while we were filming was way too over the top. Now that I see it in the movie, it’s brilliant.” Looks like Ferrell’s quirky humor paid off in the end.
But their on-screen chemistry wasn’t all smooth sailing. Caan even insisted on changing his character arc to have a more explosive confrontation with Ferrell. “He wanted it to be a slow build, and he was totally right,” Ferrell said.
For Ferrell, Elf was a leap of faith after leaving Saturday Night Live. The script needed work, but he knew that fully committing to the concept of a human raised by elves was key to making the movie work. “I was in my elf outfit just staring at the mirror, thinking, ‘This better work. This could be your last movie,'” Ferrell recalled.
In the end, the risk paid off, and Elf became a holiday classic loved by audiences worldwide. Who knew that behind the scenes, the dynamic between Ferrell and Caan was just as entertaining as the movie itself?
