It’s become a holiday tradition for many, a joy and a much watch. To add to the emotion this year, Will Ferrell reveals the scene in Elf which made him cry. And did you realize the the movie is officially 15-years-old? The movie, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell as Buddy the elf, was released in 2003 to the delight of many children and adults alike. In honor of this milestone, and to celebrate the continued holiday joy the movie brings, Rotten Tomatoes interviewed both men to get some behind the scenes information we’re just now learning for the first time…like the moment Ferrell started crying in the movie theater during one of the early showings of “Elf.”
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Here are some highlights:
Ferrell: “I just committed to the character and hoped for the best!”
Favreau: “Instead of hiring a lot of extras, we shot a lot of [the scenes in New York] independent film style with a van and a camera.”
“There were a couple of people we planted in there — the guy dressed up as Santa in a red sweatsuit — but other people passing him by, that was all real.”
Ferrell: “There was a mix of ‘please get away from me’ and some people were just kind of like, ‘hello, how are ya?’ so I could kind of weave in and out and get some honest reactions from people.”
Favreau: “[Will Ferrell] drew a lot of attention. I remember there was one sequence where we were moving through the Lincoln Tunnell — he’s crawling along the side — and [the city of New York] just let traffic through.” “There were a lot of fender benders.”
Ferrell: “When Buddy is in the back of the sleigh, and everyone’s singing in Central Park and there’s enough of Christmas spirit to get it lifted off, I’m like, ‘I can’t let everyone see me cry here at my own movie.’ So, I was like, ‘Oh, gosh. This is working on a level I didn’t anticipate. I knew this had the potential to be one of those special movies.”
You can listen to the entire phone conversation here:
Will Ferrell reveals the scene in Elf which made him cry, let’s see if you cry also.
