James Caan wasn’t a fan of what Will Ferrell was doing in Elf, even telling him that he didn’t understand why people thought he was funny.
In the years since its release, Elf has become a Christmas classic, with many families making it a part of their annual holiday traditions. However, James Caan wasn’t sure Elf would work as he didn’t find Will Ferrell to be all that funny, at least at first.
While speaking on the Messy podcast (via IndieWire), Will Ferrell said the late James Caan wasn’t a fan of his performance in Elf during the production. “James Caan, may he rest in peace, we had such a good time working on that movie,” Ferrell said. “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….“
It wasn’t until Caan saw the finished movie that he realized what Ferrell was doing. “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,” Ferrell explained. “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.’ 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 fuck 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 theater and shaking his head and going ‘it’s brilliant.’“
As Elf was a massive success, there was obviously talk of a sequel, but Ferrell has previously said that he turned down a $29 million offer to star in Elf 2 as he didn’t believe in the rehashed script. “I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money,’” Ferrell said. “And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’“