Zooey Deschanel Says She Originally Lost Role in ELF to Katie Holmes and Only Scored It When She Dropped Out

The movie Elf is a holiday favorite among fans. After its 2003 release, it cemented itself as a Christmas classic, and it seems to be due to a perfect mixture of casting, story, and holiday magic.

After watching a movie like this at least once every year for decades, it seems impossible to think of the characters played by anyone other than Will Ferrell (Buddy the Elf), Zooey Deschanel (Jovie), James Caan (Walter Hobbs), Bob Newhart (Papa Elf), Ed Asner (Santa), Mary Steenburgen (Emily Hobbs), and Daniel Tay (Michael).

But another actress was cast as Jovie before Deschanel, and she only landed the role by a simple twist of fate. The actress revealed during an interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that she was offered the female lead in director Jon Favreau’s Christmas movie classic only after Katie Holmes dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts (via The Daily Beast).

Deschanel was only 21 years old when she auditioned for the movie, although she revealed Favreau told her they didn’t need to run any lines together because “we just offered it to Katie Holmes.” “

And I was like, ‘Oh, Ok, cool,’” Deschanel remembered, adding that she proceeded to “audition” for the movie just by staying in the room and chatting with the director as if they were just meeting up to talk.

“What was great about that was like, I wasn’t nervous,” Deschanel said. “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.”

When Holmes dropped out, Deschanel left a good enough of an impression on Favreau that she was next in line to be offered the part. She starred in Elf as Jovie, a department store worker who becomes the love interest for Will Ferrell’s Buddy.

Deschanel said the role “was kind of meant to be like worked around whoever played her,” so the screenwriting team wrote in scenes where Jovie sings in the shower since Deschanel was a singer.

The rest is history, and I’m glad it worked out for Deschanel.

via: Variety