‘It’s really quite special...' Will Ferrell reflects on Elf becoming a holiday classic

Will Ferrell feels “so lucky” to be part of people's festive traditions thanks to his film 'Elf'.

The 57-year-old actor starred as Buddy the human elf who travels to New York to find his real father in the 2003 festive flick, and has now reflected on the movie’s legacy, labelling the impact it has had on old and new audiences “quite special”.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Ferrell said: “I mean, it continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and it continues to kind of entrench itself as kind of a holiday classic for people. I'm so lucky to have a movie like that in my catalog.”

The ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ star added ‘Elf’ “really means so much to so many people”, and is honoured the film has outgrown the festive season and is being watched all year-round.

He said: “And not only during the holidays, but year-round. I have people come to me saying, ‘We watch ‘Elf’ on July 4th. We just love it.’

“So that's what's so great about what I get to do. You never really have an idea of what's going to land with people, and I love the fact that this movie continues to resonate in a way that's pretty incredible.”

‘Elf’ - which also stars James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen and Bob Newhart - follows Buddy, a baby who accidentally gets transported to the North Pole after crawling into Santa's sack on Christmas Eve. He is then raised by Papa Elf and works with the other elves preparing things for Santa for Christmas.

Although he believes he is an elf, Buddy overhears that he is actually human which sends him on his quest to meet his real father Walter Hobbs (Caan), a cynical children's book publishing executive who is on Santa's naughty list.

On a budget of $33 million, ‘Elf’ went on to become a major critical and commercial success, grossing $228.9 million at the worldwide box office.

After the movie proved to be a smash-hit, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema pitched a sequel to Ferrell - offering the ‘Step Brothers’ actor $29 million to star in a follow-up flick.

However, Ferrell turned the picture down, citing its premise was too similar to the original.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, he said: “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.’”

But the ‘Daddy’s Home’ actor found he just couldn’t sign on to a film he didn’t have his heart in.

He added: "I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’”

The ‘Despicable Me 4’ actor isn’t the only ‘Elf’ cast member to dismiss the idea of a sequel, as his co-star Caan previously said a follow-on would “never” happen due to alleged tensions between Ferrell and the film’s director Jon Favreau.

‘The Godfather’ actor told radio station 92.3 The Fan: “We were gonna do it and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I finally got a franchise movie, I could make some money, let my kids do what the hell they want to do.’

“The director and Will didn't get along very well. So, Will wanted to do it, he didn't want the director, and he had it in his contract, it was one of those things.”