Elf star says Jon Favreau saved hilarious impromptu scene from being cut – now it’s gone viral

On By Littum

Elf star Mark Acheson has revealed that the now-viral scene between him and the film’s lead, Will Ferrell, was almost cut.

Acheson, now 67, appears midway through the 2003 family comedy, when Ferrell’s pal is sent down to the mail room in his father’s (James Caan) office building.

Credited simply as “the mailroom guy”, he meets Buddy, who cheerfully asks him how he ended up there. “Work release,” Acheson’s character replies before pouring a flask of alcohol into his coffee mug.

In a new interview, Acheson recalled getting a call from his agent about doing a one-liner with Ferrell for the film.

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

However, director Jon Favreau decided to have Acheson and Ferrell, now 57, improvise a full scene.

Under the mail room, Buddy naively assumes the alcohol bottle is a bottle of syrup and asks to try something. After Acheson obliges, the two end up drunk and lying together in a stagecoach.

Mark Acheson said improv scene in 'Elf' changed his career
Mark Acheson said improv scene in ‘Elf’ changed his career (New Line Cinema)

The two continue to chat as Acheson tells Buddy that he needs to get out of the flow because he’s 26 and he “has nothing to show for it.”

“You’re young, you’re so young,” Buddy replies.

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

Instead, Favreau “fought” for the stage. “He said it was the joke, that’s the fun part, right?” Acheson recounted, adding that despite the producers wanting to cut the entire scene, Favreau kept me inside.

“And thank God for me because it changed my career quite a bit,” he said.

Acheson’s line about being 26 has since become a popular soundbite on TikTok, with one user jokingly asking: “Do you ever have a Monday when you wake up and feel like the 26-year-old postal worker from Elf? Because that’s how I feel right now.”

“POV you see Elf as a 25-year-old and realizing that this man in the mail room is in no way 26 years old,” laughed another.

Ferrell led the Christmas classic as Buddy, a grown man who, after being raised at the North Pole by gnomes, thinks he is one too. But after realizing he doesn’t fit in, he embarks on an adventure to find his real father.

Elf streaming on Hulu and Max this Christmas. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and Google Play Movies