Will Ferrell says James Caan told him ‘You’re not funny’ on ‘Elf’ set: ‘I don’t get you’

James Caan thought Will Ferrell was a cotton-headed ninny muggins while they were shooting Elf together.

In an interview with Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler on their podcast MeSsy, the Step Brothers star revealed that the Godfather actor had some harsh words when they played father and son in the 2003 Christmas classic. “James Caan — may he rest in peace, and we had such a good time working on that movie — he would tease me,” Ferrell said. “We’d be in between setups, he was like, ‘I don’t get you. You’re not funny. You’re not funny.’ And I’m like, ‘I know! I’m not Robin Williams.’ He’s like, ‘People ask me, “Is he funny?” And I’m like, “No, he’s not funny!” It was all with love.”

Ferrell said that Caan’s befuddlement at Buddy the Elf’s on-screen demeanor helped strengthen the comedic dynamic between the two characters. “I love that the whole time, he’s not acting,” Ferrell opined. “He’s truly annoyed with me. Like, ‘Will this guy shut the f— up? Jesus!’ So I literally drove him crazy in that movie, just acting like that kid.”

The actor also noted that the film originally intended for Caan’s grumpy father character to become more visibly angry. “It was scripted a little more that he would get more frustrated and lose his temper with me, and he didn’t wanna do any of that,” Ferrell said of his costar. “He wanted to save it til that moment in the boardroom where he kicks me out and kicks me out of this life, like, ‘No, it’s gotta be this slow build.’ And he was totally right. He had plotted where his performance was gonna go.”

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Ultimately, Caan came around on Ferrell’s performance style once he saw the completed film. “We were walking out of the theater at the premiere, and we walk out together, and he was like — I take it as like the best compliment, cuz he’s coming from James Caan — he’s like, ‘I gotta 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 remembered. “That was so funny, he’s walking out, shaking his head, going like, ‘Great job. I thought you were way too over the top. But no, it’s brilliant.'”

The Anchorman star also said that he was anxious about the film’s success, as it was his first major project since departing Saturday Night Live, and he felt that his career was on the line. “I just was kinda like my chin in my hand looking at myself in the elf costume going, ‘Oh boy Buddy. This better work. This could be your last movie,'” he recalled. “I just was like, ‘I hope, this is either gonna really work or it’s gonna be just disastrous’… and I knew it definitely wasn’t gonna work without committing fully to it’s fish out of water.”

Listen to the full conversation between Ferrell, Applegate, and Sigler above.