Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel iconic Elf duet, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” is undoubtedly one of the sweetest and funniest scenes in the whole movie. Back in 2020, the pair reunited to perform the song again, during a table read of the Christmas classic film. In addition to Ferrell and Deschanel, other Elf actors appeared in the table read, such as Ed Asner, Bob Newhart, Mary Steenburgen, Andy Richter, Amy Sedaris, Kyle Gass and Matt Walsh.
In a clip of the table read that Deschanel shared to her Instagram page, the former on-screen lovebirds can be seen and heard delivering their sweet and heart-warming duet. After they finished, table read host Ashley Nicole Black stepped in to narrate the remainder of the scene. Notably, other non-Elf actors joined the table read as well, such as John Lithgow, who read for Walter, the role originally played by James Caan. Lithgow and Ferrell are well-acquainted with playing father and son, as they did so in the 2017 film Daddy’s Home 2. Other stars who turned up include Wanda Sykes, Busy Philipps, Ken Jeong, Jenna Ushkowitz, Ed Helms and Gaten Matarazzo.
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For many, the beloved and hilarious “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” scene from Elf was the first time audiences heard Deschanel sing. She later enjoyed a successful music career as one-half of the musical duo She & Him. In 2017, Deschanel spoke with About.com and revealed that she was not intimidated by her role in Elf calling for her to sing. “I’ve been singing forever,” she said. “I started out doing musicals. I think that was part of the reason why they gave me the part because I sang.”
She also admitted that, while Ferrell is a very funny co-star, they didn’t joke around too much on set “because then we wouldn’t have ever gotten anything and they probably would have fired me.” She added, however, “It was definitely a challenge to not laugh. It was great working with him. He’s the nicest guy in the world.”
Finally, Deschanel shared what exactly were her favorite scenes in the movie to film. “It was fun when we were in the department store because there were all these weird toys everywhere – little kid guitars, little stuffed animals, and just weird stuff,” she shared, explaining that all the shots inside “Gimbles” were her favorites. “We had fun there.”
