Will Ferrell Bans His Own Character After On-Set Drama Sparks Fallout with Hollywood’s A-List — What Went Down?
Added on May 31, 2025 inCelebrity News Cards
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Ever wonder if a little cosmic dust from today’s Mercury retrograde could explain why Will Ferrell just slammed the door on playing one of his most beloved characters again? You know, the guy who embodied Buddy the Elf’s relentless cheer—until his co-star James Caan turned out to be the ultimate grinch behind the scenes. Ferrell, the king of quirk from Anchorman to Step Brothers, has always owned his outlandish roles like a champ. But when it comes to revisiting Buddy, he’s pulling the brakes hard, and it isn’t just about the script’s meh vibes or the $29 million payday. Nope, there’s a saga of on-set teasing, creative clashes, and that classic clash of artistic stars—quite literally, because sometimes even the brightest lights don’t align. So, before you go bingeing Elf this Christmas with sugar plum dreams, know there’s a twist in the tale that’s almost as wild as Buddy’s North Pole adventure. Curious for the full scoop? LEARN MORE.”
Will Ferrell says he refuses to play one of his most iconic characters after one of his co-stars wasn’t a huge fan.
The comedy legend, 57, has starred in so many memorable roles throughout the years, from Ron Burgundy in Anchorman to Brennan in Step Brothers… I don’t think there’s anyone who could have done it better.
And certainly when Christmas time comes along, 2003’s Elf is at the top of our watchlists.
Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human raised by elves, who travels from the North Pole to New York to find his biological father, Walter Hobbs, played by the late James Caan who passed away in 2022.
The unlikely father-son relationship is the main focus of the film, as Walter initially rejects Buddy, viewing him as a delusional man pretending to be an elf.
But through Buddy’s unwavering optimism, he ends up growing on Walter, who eventually accepts him as his son.
James Caan wasn’t a fan of Buddy in the 2003 film (Warner Bros)
On set, however, it seems Caan didn’t like the Buddy character.
Ferrell said on the Messy podcast last year: “James Caan, may he rest in peace, we had such a good time working on that movie, He would tease me. 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…”
Although Ferrell said that Caan finally understood why he was so ‘over the top’ during the Elf premiere.
“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,’” Ferrell recalled.
“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 f**k 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 theatre and shaking his head and going ‘it’s brilliant’.”
(L. Cohen/WireImage for New Line Cinema)
As for a potential sequel for Elf, in 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ferrell said if he accepted the opportunity to return as Buddy, he would have walked away with $29 million (£21.6m).
But apparently, he wasn’t a big fan of the 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,'” he explained.
“And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.'”
Before his passing, Caan claimed in a chat with Cleveland’s 92.3 The Fan’s Bull & Fox that Ferrell and the director Jon Favreau ‘didn’t get along very well’, resulting in the sequel not going ahead.
“We were gonna do it and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I finally got a franchise movie, I could make some money, let my kids do what the hell they want to do,'” the late actor said.
“The director and Will didn’t get along very well. So, Will wanted to do it, he didn’t want the director, and he had it in his contract. It was one of those things.”
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