A DC star was originally cast for Zooey Deschanel’s Elf role. Deschanel plays Jovie in the all-time great Christmas movie, where she works at Gimbels and becomes a love interest for Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf character.
On the Call Her Daddy podcast, Deschanel reveals that Katie Holmes was originally supposed to play Jovie. When Deschanel went to audition for the role, Elf director Jon Favreau informed her that they did not need to run any lines, since “we just offered it to Katie Holmes.” Nevertheless, she instead stayed in the room and casually spoke further with Favreau. Check out her comments below:
What was great about that was like, I wasn’t nervous. 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.”
Holmes later dropped out of the film due to a scheduling conflict. After Deschanel’s previously positive interaction with Favreau, she was offered the part of Jovie. She explains that the character “was kind of meant to be like worked around whoever played her,” which is how Deschanel being a singer led to scenes featuring Jovie singing in the shower.
Based on Deschanel’s comments, certain aspects of Jovie’s personality would have been different if Holmes had ended up playing the role. She likely would have had a different kind of chemistry with Ferrell’s Buddy as well.
At the time, Holmes was known for playing Joey Potter in the hit series Dawson’s Creek. Two years after Elf‘s 2003 release, she played Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.
The cast of Elf also includes James Caan as Walter Hobbs, Mary Steenburgen as Emily Hobbs, Daniel Tay as Michael Hobbs, Ed Asner as Santa Claus, and Bob Newhart as Papa Elf. Buddy is raised in the North Pole by Newhart’s character and Santa’s elves, but goes to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter, with their relationship becoming the heart of the film.
After grossing more than $220 million against a reported budget of $33 million, Elf was a major box office success and is still widely considered to be one of the best holiday movies more than 20 years later.
Between being a box office hit and an enduring favorite during the holidays, there has inevitably been interest in an Elf sequel. Ferrell did not believe in the project, though, and turned down a $29 million offer for it.
In addition to Ferrell’s lack of interest, a sequel is highly unlikely to happen since Caan, Asner, and Newhart have all passed away in recent years. Elf is poised to remain a standalone modern holiday classic, with Deschanel being an important part of its legacy despite almost not playing the part of Jovie.
- Release Date
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October 9, 2003
- Runtime
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97 minutes
