In 2002, Ferrell ended his run on "Saturday Night Live" to prepare to make a name for himself in film.

In 2003, Ferrell starred in "Elf" and the R-rated comedy "Old School."

Ferrell told Entertainment Weekly in 2007 that before taking on the role of Buddy the Elf, he requested that the movie remain lighthearted and took cues from the Tom Hanks film "Big" in creating his character's childlike persona.

Since bringing Buddy to life, Ferrell has gone on to act in over 20 full-length feature films, including "Anchorman," "Kicking and Screaming," "Step Brothers," and "Get Hard."

He's also gone behind-the-scenes as an executive producer, working on hit shows like Netflix's "Dead to Me" and HBO's "Succession," as well as top-rated films like "Booksmart."

He also starred in "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga" (2020) and has continued down his producing path, with some of his most recent projects including "Will & Harper" (2024) and Netflix's "No Good Deed."

"Elf" was the ninth feature-length film that Deschanel had appeared in since launching her acting career in 1998.

At the time "Elf" debuted, Deschanel was a relatively new actress in Hollywood with a few films under her belt, including  "All the Real Girls" and "Almost Famous." 

In a 2018 interview with Variety, Deschanel said that she was the second choice for the role and ultimately starred in the movie as Jovie when the film's first choice dropped out.

And in 2003, she told liveabout.com that she believed she mostly got the part because she could sing. 

Post-"Elf," the actress starred in several major movies, including "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "500 Days of Summer," and "Trolls."

In 2006, she formed a two-person indie band with M. Ward called She and Him. The pair has released multiple studio albums together.

Deschanel landed her most notable role as Jessica Day on the Fox show "New Girl" in 2011. The series ended in 2018 after seven seasons. 

She appeared in the short "Katy Perry: Not the End of the World" as a lookalike of the pop star in 2020. Some of her most recent projects include lending her voice to the character Bridget in "Trolls World Tour" (2020) and "Trolls Band Together" (2023).

Caan wasn't a Hollywood newbie when he joined the "Elf" cast as Buddy's father, Walter.

The seasoned actor had previously starred in films like "Misery," "The Godfather," and "Funny Lady."

In 2013, Caan told the AV Club that he remembered "Elf" as one of his favorite comedy productions.

After starring in the holiday flick, he worked on TV series like NBC's "Las Vegas," and continued to star in popular movies like "Undercover Grandpa."

He also went on to voice a character in "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and several "Godfather" video-game characters.

On July 6, 2022, Caan died of a heart attack and coronary artery disease at the age of 82. His final films were "Queen Bees" (2021) and the upcoming thriller, "Dark Harvest."

Having voiced Bernard in Disney's "The Rescuers" and "The Rescuers: Down Under" and appearing in popular films like "In and Out" and "Legally Blonde 2," Newhart was a well-known actor before joining the cast of "Elf."

He even had his own CBS TV series in the 1970s titled "The Bob Newhart Show," which ran for six years. 

Starring as Papa Elf in the 2003 film, Newhart had to appear much shorter than his adoptive son, Buddy, which entailed standing several feet away from Ferrell while acting, according to Variety.

Although he has continued his work on TV, Newhart has only appeared in one feature-length film since the release of "Elf" — the 2011 movie "Horrible Bosses" starring Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman.

Newhart has also made frequent appearances on shows like TNT's "The Librarians" and CBS' "The Big Bang Theory."

In 2017, he reprised his role as Papa Elf for a local TV commercial.

On July 18, 2024, Newhart died at age 94. His final role was Professor Proton on the CBS "Big Bang" spin-off "Young Sheldon."

Steenburgen had made her mark on Hollywood long before the release of "Elf," with roles in films like "Back to the Future III" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape."

She won an Academy Award for best actress in a supporting role in 1981 for her performance as Lynda Dummar in "Melvin and Howard."

The Oscar-winning actress took her talents to the big screen once again when she appeared as Buddy's stepmom Emily in the film "Elf."

"Elf" wouldn't be the last time Steenburgen would appear in a film with Ferrell. In 2008, the duo reunited in the comedy "Step Brothers," with Steenburgen playing Ferrell's mom once again.

Steenburgen has appeared on TV series like CBS' "Joan of Arcadia" and Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black." 

She was also in the films "Four Christmases," "The Proposal,"  "The Help,"  and "A Walk in the Woods," among many others.

In 2020, she appeared in the much-anticipated holiday movie "Happiest Season," and has since been on recent seasons of several series, like "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist."

Most recently, she appeared in the film "Book Club: The Next Chapter" (2023).

Starring as Michael, Buddy's half-brother, in the film, Tay's first major role was in "Elf."

The only acting credit he had prior was in the 2003 film "American Splendor" as young Harvey.

Post-"Elf" success, the child actor voiced Doogal in the 2006 film of the same name. He also appeared in the movies "Beer League" in 2006 and "Brooklyn Rules" in 2007.

His last project was providing the voice of Bill Blue in "Grand Theft Auto IV," which was released in 2009.

In the years since "Elf" premiered, Tay graduated from Yale University, according to The Mirror.

With the exception of "The Station Agent" in 2003, Dinklage was a relatively unknown actor prior to his role in "Elf."

In the film, Dinklage appears as Miles Finch, the seemingly grumpy best-selling author who doesn't take kindly to Buddy.

After "Elf," Dinklage would go on to appear in several popular movies, including "Death at a Funeral," "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," and "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

Most notably, Dinklage played the complex and well-loved character Tyrion Lannister on "Game of Thrones."

He also appeared in "Avengers: Infinity War" and lent his voice to animated films like "The Angry Birds Movie 2" and "The Croods: A New Age." He starred in the film "Cyrano" in 2021 and lent his voice to Dr. Dillamond in "Wicked" in 2024.

Starring as Santa in "Elf" might not have been a defining moment for Asner's career, but for a generation of kids, it's one of his most memorable roles.

Asner's acting career stretches back to 1957 when he appeared on the CBS TV series "Studio One in Hollywood."

He starred in upwards of 50 projects before joining the "Elf" cast in 2003.

Asner has kept his Hollywood career thriving. Since 2003, Asner has been credited with over 60 roles, including the TV short "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas."

He appeared on Netflix's "Dead to Me" and Super Channel's "Forgive Me." 

Recently, he was in the movies "Tiger Within" and "Rain Beau's End."

In August 2021, Asner died of natural causes at the age of 91.

This story was originally published in December 2018 and most recently updated on December 24, 2024.

When the prime minister shows up for his first day of work, some of the people he walks by have ID cards, but others don't.

It appears that anyone visiting him or on his security team has a badge clipped to their top, but the members of his house staff don't.

Although his morality is called into question throughout the film as he's tempted by his assistant, Mia, in his first scene, Harry is introduced as a family man.

In his office, there's a wall of family photos and pictures that seem to have been drawn by his children. 

Daniel and his stepson Sam grow closer throughout the movie, but at the start of the film, Sam hides away in his room.

His bedroom door is decorated with stickers and a chalkboard, which he uses to tell Daniel to leave him alone. But he writes different messages on it later in the film. 

Some of the stickers say "Don't drop anything, you won't find it again" and "If your name's not Sam, you're not getting in."

When Jamie is working on his book outside by the lake, most of the pages that fly away as Aurelia lifts his cup seem to be blank.

There's a handful with words typed on them, but even the piece of paper in his typewriter looks like it's empty at the top.

When Aurelia and Jamie go to grab his book pages out of the lake, they struggle to swim around.

There are some moments where Jamie is clearly just laying on his back, doing more floating than swimming.

The awkward swimming is probably because of how shallow the water was. Director Richard Curtis told Montclair Film in 2016 that it was actually just 11 inches deep.

When the president arrives at Downing Street, his car can be seen pulling into the gates.

The black car has American flags on the side of it, but it doesn't have the proper government plates that are on the real president's car, Cadillac One or "The Beast."

The license plates shown on the car in the film aren't even for Washington DC, they're for Washington state. 

Karen holds up two dolls that she's gift wrapping for her daughter's classmates and insults both of their looks.

They appear to actually be male Ken dolls restyled and dressed in drag before being packaged in unlabeled boxes. 

Mark is watching a Billy Mack interview on TV before Juliet comes over.

He grabs the remote and shuts the television off immediately after the TV announcer says, "Do not switch off!"

When Sarah and Karl are in Sarah's bedroom, a small clock can be seen on the nightstand to the left of her bed.

When the couple is first in her room, the clock reads five minutes to 12. But later in the scene, the clock goes back in time to about 10 minutes to 12.

Billy Mack's manager, Joe, has a ton of the singer's memorabilia in his home.

There are Billy Mack posters and pictures all around, including one poster that shows an album cover titled "Moments of Madness."

One of the few posters in Joe's home that doesn't feature his rock-star client is a large "Jaws" one.

Natalie confesses her feelings for the prime minister in a Christmas card.

She writes about being sorry about what happened and ends by saying that she's his.

The letter is a nice romantic gesture, but there's a pretty big spelling error — Christmas is missing its "r."

When John and Judy go on a date the day before the Christmas play, John is wearing a green jacket and dark pants and Judy is wearing a floral skirt with a pink top and pink jacket.

When they show up at the play the next day, the couple is wearing the exact same outfits they had on the night before — perhaps implying that the date went very well. 

While he's giving the eulogy, Daniel mentions that his late wife jokingly suggested he bring German model Claudia Schiffer as his date to her funeral.

Schiffer's name is brought up again when Sam asks Daniel about his love life.

At the end of the movie, Schiffer actually appears on screen as Carol, the mother of Sam's schoolmate, and she and Daniel immediately hit it off.

During the final airport scenes, Billy Mack stands in front of an ad for "the new iMac."

It's for the iMac G4, which debuted in January 2002.

The movie didn't come out until 2003, so the ad was probably a bit dated even then. 

This story was originally published in December 2021 and most recently updated on December 10, 2024.