Elf It's certainly a holiday classic. If you haven't watched it yet this holiday season, you're probably going to do so right now.
In addition to being a source of comics for Will Ferrell, Elf also marked something of a breakthrough role for Zooey Deschanelwho played Jovi, Buddy the Elf's love interest.
Elf This is one of those films that is so beloved that simply imagining changing a detail of the film can completely change your perception of the film – which is why Zooey's recent revelation that she almost wasn't in the film at all it's more than exciting.
Zooey said she only secured the role of Jovi after Katy had to bow out of the project. Elf due to “some scheduling conflict.”
“When I met Jon FavreauI walked in, the director, and he was like, “Oh, you don’t have to read.” We just suggested it to Katie Holmes,” she recalls. “And I thought, 'Oh, okay, cool.' And he was like, “Well, sit down and talk for a minute.” I was like, “OK!”
“What was great about it was that I wasn’t nervous. When you're an actor, you're just starting out, and you're auditioning, you're nervous and you're putting yourself on guard. I wasn't nervous at all because I thought, “Well, I'm not going to get the part.” It was great because I wasn't nervous.”
Of course, if you've seen Elf at least once you knew that Jovie's singing talents played a key role in the film – and as it turns out, that aspect of the character was tailored to Zooey's eventual casting.
“They said, ‘Who should we get?’” she explained. “I think the character had to work with whoever was playing it, and they knew I sang because I had a cabaret act, so it kind of worked with the character.”
Guys, this is just movie magic. Happy Holidays!
