Zooey Deschanel brought the character Jovie to life in the holiday classic movie “Elf,” but the role originally went to another actress. Deschanel shares the story behind how she landed the part after the A-lister had to leave the project.
Zooey Deschanel’s Iconic Role in ‘Elf’ Initially Went to Another Actress
During an appearance on the December 17 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Deschanel revealed that she didn’t initially get the role of Jovie in “Elf.”
The “New Girl” star recalled showing up for her audition, only to have the director tell her that the role went to someone else.
“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.'”
“And I was like, ‘Oh, Okay. Cool,'” she recalled, noting she was ready to leave, but Favreau asked her to stay and chat.
Deschanel continued, “What was great about that was, like, I wasn’t nervous. 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,'” she added. “It was kind of great ’cause I was not nervous.”
Holmes had a scheduling conflict and had to drop out of the film. The rest, is history.
“And then they were like, ‘Who should we have?’ 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,” Deschanel explained.
The actress had nothing but love for her co-star Will Ferrell. “He’s like the nicest human being. Anyone who’s worked with him, there’s no bad experiences with him,” she explained. “He’s so nice. He’s nice to everybody. He’s so fun. He’s game for anything.”
She added, “And I think the thing about Will is he’s super playful and fun and open and just like a nice person, and I think that kind of informs who he is as an actor. He’s so willing to play.”
Deschanel Reveals Why She Was Blonde in ‘Elf’
Deschanel also shared the reason behind her blonde hair in the movie. The “New Girl” star auditioned with blonde hair and they wanted her to keep the same hair color.
“That was because I was young and just starting out and trying to get jobs and there was a movie about a pop star that was like floating around and the producer really wanted me for it and he was like, ‘Let’s do a screen test.’ And they dyed my hair blonde, put like extensions in it and all this stuff,” the actress shared.
The movie, however, “never ended up happening.” She explained, “I had this blonde hair for like a little bit and I still hadn’t dyed it back brown because I was like 21. I didn’t have that much money to go and do my hair all the time. So, I was kind of waiting.”
She continued, “And then once I got the part, I was like, ‘Well, can I dye my hair back brown?’ And they were like, ‘No, um, you have to have the same hair you had when you came in.'”
Deschanel noted, “My hair’s like really stiff in the movie because it was bleached and then it was highlighted.”
She added, “I was like young and dumb and I remember they glued the extensions in, I couldn’t get them out, and I was like trying to pull them and I like ripped my hair out.”
