Will Ferrell: Oversized Elf

Comic actor Will Ferrell cracked us up in Old School and before that, as a regular for years on t.v.'s "Saturday Night Live". I loved his sketch with SNL's Cheri Oteri as a "Spartan" cheerleader. He's wacky, energetic and not afraid to put it all out there, even his physique, which isn't always "buff". As a human raised as an overgrown elf in his new film Elf, Will reaches into his comic bag of tricks for a little naïve optimism and creates a wide-eyed character that represents the child in all of us. Of course we rarely get a straight answer out of the actor but here's our attempt:

TeenHollywood: What do you hope to accomplish with Elf?

Will: It feels like we accomplished what we set out to do in hoping to make a family comedy that has heart but is also funny and find that right balance between the two. You know, with making a holiday film that if it's done right, there's a better chance that it could be something seen over and over again. With that kind of pressure we tried to make it distinct.

TeenHollywood: Were you always the tallest kid growing up?

Will: Pretty much. Up until high school, I was always taller and probably the hardest ugly duckling moment I had to deal with was when my hair went from being totally straight to curly. By the time I was in 7th grade I couldn't comb it anymore. So I had to deal with a "Fro" for the first time and that was rough. No one noticed that I stopped combing my hair with a part but, in my mind, it was devastating.

TeenHollywood: When did you realize there was no Santa Claus and what was your worst Christmas?

Will: I think I realized there was no Santa Claus probably about a month ago. Talk about a shock. We weren't allowed to celebrate Christmas in my house. My parents never spoke to me... nah.. I've lucked out. I never had a worst Christmas.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a Christmas movie that you must watch every time it comes on?

Will: Yeah. I do. Probably my favorite Christmas movie is Days of Thunder with Tom Cruise, the Nascar movie because I love the message about trying to drive as fast as you can in a circle which is really very symbolic. I watch that every Christmas morning. [he laughs]

TeenHollywood: How many times did you have to shoot the scene in Elf where you eat all that weird stuff?

Will: It was at least four or five. After a while I think John (the director) got what he needed but just enjoyed seeing me eat spaghetti with maple syrup and pop tarts and M&M's which I think is going to be added to the nutritional list for children across America.

TeenHollywood: Did you improvise that scene or others?

Will: Yeah, there were mostly moments like that where the scene was ending and then we had props that weren't written in and we took advantage of them. Like interacting with people in New York. There's a scene where I'm riding on the back of a NYC fire truck. There was a fire truck parked next to us and we asked the guys if they would mind if Will got on the back? They were like 'Great. Don't tell anyone'.

TeenHollywood: You are in almost every frame of the movie. How hard is it to keep your energy up?

Will: Yeah. James Caan kept asking me to go out to dinner. I said 'I can't. I'm working 14 hour days'.

TeenHollywood: You were really funny in that elf costume. Does what you wear help?

Will: [What I wear] or don't wear [he was in the buff in Old School]. That was half the battle. As soon as I had the first wardrobe fitting I was saying okay, this better work because otherwise you're going to get sick of seeing me in this outfit. But, it's a bonus when the costume can add to the context of how ridiculous things are.

TeenHollywood: Do you still watch "Saturday Night Live"?

Will: I think I watched every show last year just out of curiosity and also the fact that I'm still friends with all the cast. After you've worked at a place for seven years, it's kind of a natural impulse to see how the shows are and what it's like actually watching it instead of being a part of it. I think Dan Aykroyd makes it a point to watch the show every Saturday.

TeenHollywood: Your elf character is sort of sweetly goofy. Was that hard to play?

Will: It was very easy only because he is of the purest intentions so it's always fun to play someone completely earnest. Whether it's someone who is joyful or boring or mean, to play it straight is the way I like to do it. One of the things that drew me to the script was I thought it would be fun to play a character without any pre-conceived notions of how things should be or how he should act and also view the world through those kind of child-like eyes. Kids don't edit themselves and Buddy doesn't. If he sees something he likes, he gets excited and if he sees something scary, he reacts. As long as I stuck to that it was kind of easy and fun to play.

***

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.