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Will Ferrell has revealed that his late Elf co-star James Caan did not find him funny, and instead thought he was ‘”way too over the top” on the set of the beloved Christmas comedy.
Ferrell, 56, is known for his exaggerated performances of eccentric characters, and plays a vivacious human named Buddy who is raised as an elf in the North Pole in the 2003 movie.
Caan, who died in 2022 aged 82, played Buddy’s cynical biological father and boss, Walter Hobbs, who is persistently frustrated by the effervescent character. But Ferrell has revealed that the frustration depicted in the movie was very real.
“James Caan, may he rest in peace, we had such a good time working on that movie,” Ferrell told Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler on the Messy podcast.
“He would tease me. Christina, you know: I like to do bits, but 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.’
“And I’m like, ‘I know. I’m not Robin Williams.’ And he was like, ‘People ask me: Is he funny? And I’m like: No, he’s not funny.’ It was all with love, but at the same time….”
Caan was reported to have been so annoyed by Ferrell while filming that he asked to have his character arc changed so that the pair could have a more explosive argument.
“It was scripted a little more that he would get more frustrated and lose his temper with me. And he didn’t want to do any of that,” Ferrell said.
“He wanted to save it until that moment in the boardroom when he kicks me out. He wanted it to be a slow build, and he was totally right.”
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But Caan came around to Ferrell’s performance methods when he saw it all come together during the premiere of the movie.
“And then we were walking out of the theater at the premiere, and we walk out together, and I take it as the best compliment because it’s coming from James Caan.
“He was like, ‘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,’” Ferrell said.
“But I love that the whole time, he’s not acting. He’s truly annoyed with me. He’s like, ‘Can this guy shut the f*** up? Jesus.’ I literally drove him crazy in that movie, just acting like that kid. But that was the funniest thing, him walking out of the theatre and shaking his head and going, ‘It’s brilliant.’”
