Andy Richter Reveals the ‘Elf’ We Almost Got With Chris Farley and 2 Scrapped Sequels

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From surprising casting choices to abandoned ideas, the Christmas classic could have looked very different.

Published Nov 2, 2026, 12:01 PM EST

Tania Hussain is an Executive Editor at Collider responsible for creative, editorial, and managerial duties. In addition to leading content ideation and development, she works to generate innovative and compelling ideas for feature articles and reviews with her editorial team across Features, Lists, Reviews, and Interviews. She also serves as the primary editor overseeing Collider’s Signature Series profiles, spotlighting some of the most influential voices in film and television. Tania has helped cover and ideate content for major events for Collider, including the Toronto International Film Festival. She has also conducted more than 100 interviews since her start in the business more than 15 years ago. Some favorites include Joel McHale, Charlie Cox, Jennifer Garner, Tina Fey, Kate Winslet, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Richter, Jordan Schlansky, Jamie Dornan, Yeardley Smith, Rafe Spall, Esther Smith, and a reasonable toss-up between Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog. She has covered set visits, in-person junkets, and red carpets for several films and TV shows, including most recently, The Sheep Detectives, Masterchef, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

The countdown to the holiday season has officially begun, and if you’re anything like us here at Collider, you’re making a list (and checking it twice) of all the films that celebrate the best in festive cheer. There’s also a pretty good chance you’ve watched Elf enough times to know Buddy’s favorite food groups or why the world’s best cup of coffee isn’t actually all that great. But even after more than 20 years, there is still plenty about the beloved Christmas classic that might surprise you.

For starters, Will Ferrell wasn’t the only actor considered to play Buddy the Elf, and Zooey Deschanel wasn’t the first choice for Jovie. And somewhere along the way, a much raunchier version of Elf actually existed. Imagine explaining that one to Santa! But as one of the film’s stars, Andy Richter tells us ahead of the release of his new behind-the-scenes book, Elf Unwrapped, “The one that we see is the best one, and that doesn’t always happen.”

Having played Morris in the 2003 holiday favorite, Richter spent two years digging into the film’s history and interviewing the people who brought the annual classic to life. Through his lengthy research, Richter discovered a movie that could have turned out very differently, from its surprising casting choices to the creative tug-of-war behind the scenes and even a couple of sequels that never made it to the screen. As the actor and comedian explains, there’s a reason Elf became a Christmas classic, and it wasn’t just because Buddy knew how to spread a little holiday cheer.

‘Elf’ Almost Starred Chris Farley and Katie Holmes

It’s really hard to imagine anyone other than Ferrell playing Buddy, but the Christmas comedy almost had a very different leading man. While researching Elf Unwrapped, Richter discovered that Saturday Night Live alum Chris Farley was once attached to the project, something he hadn’t even known despite appearing in the movie as the in-house writer at Greenway Press alongside James Caan’s curmudgeonly publisher, Walter Hobbs.

“Chris Farley was attached to the movie at one point, which I had no idea about, and I don’t know to what extent that attachment [was], whether it meant he was on an email or whether he said, ‘Yeah, I’m interested,’” Richter said. He goes on to explain how the script spent years bouncing between studios and producers before finding its way to the big screen.

And while it’s impossible to know what Farley could have done with Buddy the Elf, Richter believes the late SNL star had the talent to make it all work. “It obviously would have been different, but I think that he could have done it,” Richter says. “But if it had a different director, that would be the other thing. I mean, the movie is most affected by Jon Favreau and Will Ferrell, and the combination of the two. So, it probably would have been a funny, silly movie if it had gone to film with him.”

But even as Ferrell ultimately got the role, he wasn’t an easy sell at the time. Despite his success on the NBC sketch comedy series, some in Hollywood didn’t feel he would be able to carry the movie. As Richter recalls, New Line’s Kent Alterman fought to get him the role, but not everyone shared his confidence.

“You get people like Kent who worked for New Line and kind of made this movie happen. He took the script and put Will into it and really fought for it,” Richter says. “But then you get a lot of other people who just are like, ‘No, no. Not Will Ferrell. Adam Sandler, yes; Will Ferrell, no.’”

The casting surprises didn’t stop with Buddy either, as Richter learned Katie Holmes was originally offered the role of Jovie, the cynical, apathetic department store employee working at Gimbels. Meanwhile, the actor and comedian shares how Selma Blair was also considered for a version of the character who rode a skateboard. But of course, the part eventually went to Deschanel, whose performance Richter praises in the book and during our conversation, saying she’s “just perfect for this part.”

A Raunchier Version of ‘Elf’ Actually Exists, Thanks to ‘Old School’

As strange as it sounds, there was a point when Elf could have had a lot more in common with Old School than your typical Christmas movie. During filming, Ferrell’s hit comedy arrived in theaters, giving Hollywood a taste of just how funny he could be outside of SNL. Naturally, someone thought Buddy might benefit from a little more of that frat-boy humor.

“They also thought, ‘Well, Old School is this raunchy frat movie. Maybe we need to make a raunchy frat cut of Elf,’ and I guess they did,” Richter reveals. “I don’t know how many people saw it, but there was a momentary Elf cut that was supposed to be kind of frat boy humor or something, and it was universally decided that it was not good.”

That wasn’t the only creative issue behind the scenes. As Richter shares, Ferrell and his writing partner Adam McKay were leaning toward a more absurd, joke-heavy comedy, while Favreau had something much sweeter in mind. The author and actor says the difference between those approaches was exactly what made the film so interesting to revisit.

“The movie that he and Adam were pitching at the time was Anchorman, and they couldn’t get it made, but the success of Elf helped get Anchorman made,” he explains. “There would have been an Anchorman version of Elf. At the time, he and Adam were creative partners, so if it was up to them, you would have gotten kind of a very absurdist, weird Elf that would probably be hilarious, but it wouldn’t have the staying power. Your grandma probably wouldn’t like it.”

Favreau, however, wasn’t about to let the movie lose its Christmas spirit. Richter points out that the director had a very clear goal, even if it meant holding back on the jokes: “Jon’s insisting on making this, he set out to make a Christmas classic, and he did. He wanted that kind of warm sentimentality. They both got what they wanted, I think, and as I say, the combination of the two is what makes it work. Will Ferrell just in a sentimental movie would be a waste of Will Ferrell.”

‘Elf’ Almost Had Two Different Sequels — Including One Written by U2’s The Edge

As a Christmas movie that is a yearly holiday tradition for so many households, it’s surprising that Elf never got a sequel. But that doesn’t mean anybody tried. As Richter discovered while researching Elf Unwrapped, Scott Armstrong, an uncredited writer on the original film, had already written a follow-up. But in an even stranger turn, U2 guitarist The Edge apparently had his own ideas about bringing Buddy back, too.

“Shauna Robertson, one of the producers, told us that someone had reached out to her and said that The Edge from U2, the guitarist from U2, wanted to talk to her because he had written an Elf sequel,” Richter reveals with a laugh. “Then that meeting never came to fruition, so she’s like, ‘I don’t know what’s in that script, if it’s truly written, but supposedly The Edge has written an Elf 2 script.’”

While there's no telling what either sequel would have looked like, Richter isn’t exactly losing sleep over their absence. He admits he’d trust another Elf movie if Ferrell and Favreau were involved, but without them, it’s anybody’s guess. Richter has also seen what happens when Hollywood rushes to capitalize on a hit, pointing to Frozen 2 as an example. “Frozen 2 came out so quickly afterward, and it doesn’t make sense, and the songs are not great. It looks like a cash grab,” he says, recalling how even his children weren’t particularly impressed with the follow-up.

For Richter, though, there’s something nice about letting Buddy’s story end where it did. After all, not every Christmas favorite needs another trip to the North Pole. “I think that circumstances were such that it just didn’t happen. Everybody got busy doing other things, and then it just got away from them,” he says. “And honestly, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I think, as you said, Elf is kind of perfect on its own, and some things just need to be left alone and not run the risk of making a Godfather 3. Just letting the perfection be perfect.”

Elf Unwrapped will be available in bookstores and through digital retailers beginning November 2. And Elf is available to watch this holiday season on Hulu.