Will Ferrell Reveals Weird Fan Interactions That Happened After Elf

The Saturday Night Live alumnus says the paparazzi didn't bother with him until he appeared in Elf.

By Adam Barnhardt

Even though Will Ferrell had been a mainstay on Saturday Night Live prior to starring in Elf, it was the Christmas comedy that turned him into a bonafide superstar. In fact, Ferrell now says he wasn't even photographed by paparazzi until he appeared in the Jon Favreau-directed film. The Step Brothers alumnus spilled all the details on a recent episode of Kevin Hart's Hart to Heart on Peacock.

"I remember walking around New York after the opening weekend of Elf. That was the first time my wife and I were walking around and people were following us around," Ferrell explained. "That was a little exciting in a way and a little alarming. Like why is this guy walking on the other sidewalk walking the same speed I am? Why's he doing what I'm doing? Why's he dressed in all black? Why's he taking photographs?"

Will there ever be an Elf 2?

Given that Elf has found itself a spot in the pantheon of Christmas Classics, right alongside It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, and Violent Night, many fans are apprehensive of a follow-up. Favreau himself has said he's not sure what a sequel could look like given the first film featured a complete story.

"I think there's always room for new Christmas movies; that particular film, I don't know what story would be told after that. It's very complete," the director told Variety earlier this year.

That said, Ferrell revealed he was previously offered $29 million to start in a now-canceled sequel. According to him, he was worried the picture wouldn't be as good as the first one.

"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,'" Ferrell told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. "And I thought, 'Can I actually say those words? I don't think I can, so I guess I can't do the movie.'"

Elf is available on physical media release and digitally wherever movies are sold.

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