Will Ferrell has revealed how he feared that Elf could ruin his career before it became immortalised as a Christmas classic.
Ferrell stars as Buddy The Elf in the beloved film, which follows his journey as he treks from the North Pole to New York City to track down his real father.
But despite eventually becoming a mainstay of the festive season, Ferrell has revealed how he initially feared that it could derail his career.
As he appeared on The Late Late Show, Corden told Ferrell that it was a “brilliant film”, before asking if he had initial reservations.
“Yeah there were moments,” replied Ferrell. “The first two weeks of shooting were kind of all the exteriors in New York and so, you know, still kind of discovering what this movie’s going to be and running around New York City in yellow tights.
“People recognising me from Saturday Night Live going, ‘Are you okay? What’s going on?’ and thinking to myself this is either going to be a home run or people are going to go, ‘Whatever happened to you? Why did you do that one about the elf?’”
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He also revealed how James Caan, who portrays Walter Hobbs, wasn’t a big fan of his performance. However, he reserved his judgement once it was clear that the film would prove to be a success.
“He came up to me at the premiere,” said Ferrell, “and you know, it had gone great, and people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is gonna be fantastic’, and he’s like, ’Hey, I got to tell you something. Every day on set I thought you were way too over the top, but now I see what you’re doing. Great job!’”
“So I just love the thought that there we were working every day and he’s going back to his hotel room going, ‘Jeez, get me out of this one!’”
Meanwhile, it was revealed last week that Elf is Britain’s second favourite Christmas film – with the top spot being secured by It’s A Wonderful Life.