Will Farrell wasn't originally slated to play Buddy. The original script for the movie in the early 1990s had comedian Jim Carrey chosen to star in the role of Buddy the Elf. Turns out, Carrey ended up playing a very different Christmas character in the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Elf was in development for 10 years before it reached the big screen, going through several rewrites and changes in studio and casting influences. Jim Carrey was originally considered for the role of Buddy the Elf, but Will Ferrell ultimately brought the iconic character to life.
Jim Carrey was reportedly the first choice to play Buddy
However, by the time the film went into production, Carrey had moved on from the role. Interestingly enough, Carrey did end up playing another iconic Christmas character: the Grinch in 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Garry Shandling was offered the role of Walter Hobbs but declined. Wanda Sykes was originally cast as the Gimbels manager Wanda but later dropped out; the manager's name tag in the film still bears the name "Wanda". Terry Zwigoff was offered to direct the film, but he turned it down in favor of Bad Santa (2003).
The original script for Elf was written with Jim Carrey in mind for the lead role, but it sat in production limbo for a decade before eventually being picked up by Ferrell.
“I had to dye my hair blonde for a screen test for a movie that never happened before I did Elf,” Deschanel told Stylecaster in a March 2019 interview. “I went in for the meeting for Elf, and then I asked them, 'Could I dye my hair back to my natural color? ' And they said, 'No.
James Caan was a true delight. My favorite memory of him was shooting part of a montage for the end of Elf and he started playing piano — he played beautifully — I sang and he played and I was just astonished by his talent!
Interestingly, while the movie is set in New York City and the North Pole, many interior shots were filmed in an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Riverview Hospital, located in Coquitlam, east of Vancouver, served as the backdrop for these scenes.
As Favreau revealed to ABC News, the Elf team asked Macy's if they could use the store for the movie, but Macy's declined. He told the publication: "Because we're using a Santa, of course, everybody thinks Macy's. "But Macy's didn't like the idea that there was a fake Santa working there.
Fun fact: Producers wanted to feature the famous Macy's 34th street location, the largest store in the world, but Macy's refused to have their name used. So they settled on Gimbels, a now defunct NY department store–the exterior was shot at 5th Avenue and E 30th St and decorated with CGI.
When eating dinner with his father, step-mother, and half-brother, Buddy drinks an entire two-liter bottle of soda, and follows it with a long, loud belch. While Ferrell visually performed the burp, the sound actually came from voice actor Maurice LaMarche.
Gender. Susie Hobbs is the daughter of Buddy and Jovie, the granddaughter of Walter Hobbs and Susan Wells, the adopted granddaughter of Papa Elf, the step granddaughter of Emily Hobbs and the half-niece of Michael Hobbs. She's shown at the end of the movie when Buddy and Jovie are married and visit Santa.
Elf was Will Ferrell's second box office hit. He reportedly received a whopping salary of $17 million for that film alone, more on par with what his talents would dictate in the mid-2000s. He was allegedly offered $29 million to act in an Elf sequel, but couldn't get his heart into it, so he turned it down.
Who was supposed to be Elf instead of Will Ferrell?
But had the screenwriter had his choice, Ferrell wouldn't have been the comedian selected for the lead role. Berenbaum finished the first draft of Elf in 1993 with In Living Color alum, Jim Carrey in mind for the lead role, with a much darker undertone of the film — but Carey wasn't meant to be in the role.
Because screenwriter David Berenbaum had been developing the script since 1993, Will Ferrell's wasn't the first actor to be up for the role of Buddy. Jim Carrey came closest, but turned it down to make Ace Ventura, the movie that would make his name.
– The outdoor scenes shot in New York City feature real people so many of the reactions you see are genuine! – In fact, several minor traffic accidents occurred when Will Ferrell walked through the Lincoln Tunnel in his costume, because people were so surprised and distracted to see a grown man wearing an elf outfit.
This actually makes Buddy a fair amount younger than Will Ferrell himself, who was 35 years old at the time of Elf's filming, and 36 when the movie was released to theaters.
Warner Bros. When the security guards at Walter's office throw Buddy out, they suggest he go back to Santaland at Gimbels. The highly festive store is heavily featured throughout the rest of "Elf," but viewers may not have realized that Gimbels was a real department store in New York City that closed in 1986.
Celebrity Net Worth noted that court documents showed Caan earning $1 million in royalties in 2015, with $140,000 annually from the Christmas classic “Elf.”
There's plenty of real New York on display of course, but most of the interiors were filmed in an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Papa Elf reveals that Buddy was born to Walter Hobbs (James Caan) and Susan Wells and given up for adoption and that Walter never knew of his existence. He explains how Susan later died and that Walter now works at a children's book company in New York City.
The next morning, Jovie took a shower in the women's locker room because her building's water was shut off. She sang the female part of "Baby, It's Cold Outside".
She previously lightened her tresses for Elf, which premiered in 2003. “I had to dye my hair blonde for a screen test for a movie that never happened before I did Elf,” Deschanel told Stylecaster in a March 2019 interview.
During his quest for his father, he meets and falls in love with Jovie, the character played by Zooey. Moreover, Zooey's youthful energy made her performance as Jovie memorable. In an interview with Yardbarker, Zooey revealed she was 21 years of age while shooting the movie.
