“Elf” producers wanted to cut this line. More than 20 years later, it’s gone viral (Exclusive)

This meme just line in Elf almost didn’t happen.

Mark Achesonthe actor, fittingly credited as “Mailroom Guy” in the 2003 holiday classic, tells PEOPLE exclusively about working on the film — and the one line fans can’t stop talking about.

Acheson, 67, says he was only supposed to have one line in the scene where Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) is sent into the mail room at his father’s work. The actor calls his day Elf set “the strangest day I could possibly imagine.”

“I called my agent and he said, ‘Listen, they want you to come and do a line with Will Ferrell. Do you want to do it?’ And I said, yes, I’d be happy to do it, I just had to say ‘work release,’ and that was the end of it,” Acheson says.

Related: Will Ferrell feels ‘so lucky’ to have done Elf: It ‘continues to resonate in a way that’s pretty incredible’ (Exclusive)

Director Jon Favreauhowever, decided that Acheson should improvise with Ferrell, now 57. At one point in the mailroom, Acheson’s character tells Buddy that he is 26 years old and has “nothing to show for it.”

Ferrell’s pal disagrees. “You’re young, you’re so young,” he replies.

The banter, with Acheson and Ferrell lying in mail cars, was improvised — and was almost cut. Favreau, 58, ultimately made sure it did.

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“The producers wanted to remove the whole scene because of that. I’m like, ‘Who would believe this guy is 26?’ I mean, seriously, I think I was 46 at the time and an older, 46 even at the time because I never looked younger in my life, Acheson says.

But “Jon Favreau fought for it. He said that the joke, that’s the fun part, right?” he continues. “He kept me in but they, they didn’t want me but he did and thank God for me because it changed my career quite a bit.”

Related: Will Ferrell says James Caan was ‘really annoyed’ with him during filming Elf: ‘I drove him crazy’

The line about the post office worker being 26 years old has taken on new life with viral posts online and memes poking fun at the plot point, especially during the holiday season.

“I can believe in an elf from the North Pole. But there is no way I believe the guy on the left is 26. One of the biggest lies in movie history.” someone wrote online.

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“Now more than ever I relate to the elf who is inexplicably 26 years old,” said another on social media. Another said they are “cackling” that Acheson’s character is “supposedly 26 years old.” “

“The most unrealistic detail in all of ELF is that the guy on the left is 26 years old,” another called in.

Elf is available for streaming on Hulu and Max, along with Disney+ and Amazon Prime for premium subscribers.

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