‘Elf’: Zooey Deschanel Initially Lost Her Role to Another Actress
What To Know
- Zooey Deschanel originally lost the role of Jovie in Elf to Katie Holmes.
- Deschanel’s singing ability inspired the inclusion of the memorable “Baby It’s Cold Outside” shower scene.
- Deschanel fondly recalled filming department store scenes with Will Ferrell, highlighting the fun and farcical energy of those moments in the Christmas classic.
Zooey Deschanel initially lost the role of Jovie to another actress in Elf — but thankfully, a twist of fate helped her snag the part in the iconic holiday film.
In a December 17 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, Deschanel, 45, opened up about filming the 2003 Christmas classic starring Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf.
During the sit-down with host Alex Cooper, Deschanel said that she met with director Jon Favreau when she was 21 to read for the part. He immediately informed her, “We just offered it to Katie Holmes.”
“And I was like, ‘Oh, OK. Cool,'” Deschanel recalled, explaining that she and Favreau simply chatted during the “audition” instead.
“What was great about that was, like, I wasn’t nervous,” she continued. “It’s like when you’re an actor, you’re like first starting, and you’re auditioning, you get nervous, and you’re like psyching yourself up. I wasn’t nervous at all, because I was like, ‘Well, I’m not getting the part.”
Due to a scheduling conflict, Holmes had to drop out of Elf, and Deschanel was chosen as her replacement.
The New Girl star explained that Jovie’s character was “meant to be like worked around whoever played her,” and that Favreau knew she sang because she had a cabaret act at the time. Thus, the “Baby It’s Cold Outside” locker room shower scene was born.
New Line/courtesy Everett Collection
When asked what her favorite Elf scene with Ferrell — whom she called “the nicest human being — Deschanel said she particularly enjoyed the ones in the department store.
There’s so much kind of farcical energy to that and fun characters. When he’s like, ‘I know Santa,’ and then Santa comes and it’s not the ‘real Santa,’ and he starts, like, freaking out. There’s so much fun stuff in there.
In addition to Deschanel and Ferrell, Elf starred Bob Newhart as Papa Elf, Mary Steenburgen as Emily, Daniel Tay as Michael, Peter Dinklage as Miles Finch, Faizon Love as the Gimbels manager, and Andy Richter as Morris, among others.
Elf, streaming on HBO Max and Philo