James Caan was ‘truly annoyed’ by Will Ferrell while filming ‘Elf’

Will Ferrell reflected on his relationship with James Caan while the filming Christmas classic movie Elf.

“James Caan, may he rest in peace, we had such a good time working on that movie,” Ferrell said in an interview with Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler on their Messy podcast.

“He would tease me. Christina, you know: I like to do bits, but I’m not like ‘on’ all the time. In between set ups, [Caan] would be like, ‘I don’t get you. You’re not funny.’ And I’m like, ‘I know. I’m not Robin Williams.’ And he was like, ‘People ask me: “Is he funny?” And I’m like, “No, he’s not funny.”‘ It was all with love, but at the same time….”

Caan’s perspective changed when he watched the Christmas movie.

“And then we were walking out of the theatre at the premiere, and we walk out together, and I take it as the best compliment because it’s coming from James Caan,” Ferrel recalled.

“He was like, ‘I’ve got to tell you: I thought everything you were doing while we were filming was way too over the top. Now that I see it in the movie, it’s brilliant,’” he said.

“But I love that the whole time, he’s not acting. He’s truly annoyed with me. He’s like, ‘Can this guy shut the fuck up? Jesus.’”

“I literally drove him crazy in that movie, just acting like that kid. But that was the funniest thing, him walking out of the theatre and shaking his head and going ‘it’s brilliant.’”

The actor also recounted the time when Caan adjusted his character arc to have a better fight with Ferrell’s Buddy.

“It was scripted a little more that he would get more frustrated and lose his temper with me. And he didn’t want to do any of that,” Ferrell said. 

“He wanted to save it until that moment in the boardroom when he kicks me out. He wanted it to be a slow build, and he was totally right.”