Zooey Deschanel Initially Lost Her ‘Elf’ Role to America’s Sweetheart

Zooey Deschanel originally lost out on her breakthrough Elf role to a major 2000s actor.

Deschanel revealed on Wednesday’s episode of Call Her Daddy that Katie Holmes was originally cast as love interest Jovie in the 2003 Will Ferrell-led Christmas comedy, but dropped out due to “some scheduling conflict.”

“When I met with Jon Favreau, the director, I walked in and he was like, ‘Oh, you don’t need to read. We just offered it to Katie Holmes,’ she recalled of her audition for the part. “And I was like, ‘Oh, OK, cool.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, sit down and talk for a minute.’ I was like, ‘OK!’”

Deschanel then proceeded to audition in her own way, just by chatting with the director casually. “What was great about that was, I wasn’t nervous,” she admitted. “When you’re an actor, you’re first starting, and you’re auditioning, you get nervous, and you’re psyching yourself up. I wasn’t nervous at all, because I was like, ‘Well, I’m not getting the part.’ It was kind of great cause I was not nervous.”

It was only once Holmes dropped out of the film that Deschanel was ultimately cast as the cynical department store worker with a heart of gold. The actress revealed that because the character was “kind of meant to be like worked around whoever played her,” writers ultimately added a scene in which Jovie sings in the shower to showcase Deschanel’s musical talents.

“And then they were like, ‘Who should we have?’” said Deschanel. “I think the character was kind of meant to be worked around whoever played her, and they knew I sang because I had a cabaret act, so that kind of worked out with the character.”

Elf would go on to become a modern Christmas classic after earning more than $220 million worldwide following its release. Ferrell revealed in 2021 that he was asked to star in a sequel to the film for a whopping $29 million check, but turned down the offer due to his own conscience.

“I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money,’” Ferrell told The Hollywood Reporter. “And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’”