Zooey Deschanel Reveals She Only Starred In 'Elf' After Original Choice Dropped Out

Maybe not everyone likes it, but Elf has become a Christmas tradition in many households, bringing families together with candy canes, sugar plums, and a questionable amount of maple syrup.

Since the 2003 hit film has become such a holiday mainstay, much like A Christmas Story and The Grinch, it's hard to imagine anyone being in the film besides Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, and James Caan.

But apparently, we almost didn't get Zooey Deschanel as Buddy's one and only love in the movie.

While appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Deschanel opened up about her divorce, recent engagement, favorite acting roles, and since her host, Alex Cooper, was decked out in a full-blown Elf costume, they had to talk about Jovie.

Looking back, when she went to audition for the part, director Jon Favreau was honest and did not waste her time, letting her know that they had just cast Katie Holmes for the part, but he still invited her to come and sit down and talk shop for a few minutes.

Deschanel reflected:

"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, OK, cool.’"

"And he’s like, ‘Well, sit down and talk for a minute.’ I was like, ‘OK!'"

"What was great about that was, I wasn’t nervous."

"When you’re an actor, you’re first starting, and you’re auditioning, you get nervous, and you’re psyching yourself up. I wasn’t nervous at all, because I was like, ‘Well, I’m not getting the part.’ It was kind of great cause I was not nervous.”

Fortunately for Deschanel, sticking around and having that conversation casually was exactly what landed her the part when Holmes realized she had a scheduling conflict and had to back out of the part.

"[When Holmes had to back out,] 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.”

By morphing the character around Deschanel's talents, they were able to create the iconic "Baby, It's Cold Outside" scene between her and Ferrell, ironically in a women's restroom, not to mention Jovie saving the day by leading a Christmas sing-along.

You can watch the segment here:

- YouTube youtu.be

Fans loved hearing this story and confided that they could not imagine Jovie being played by anyone else.

@callherdaddy/Instagram

@callherdaddy/Instagram

The news also spread to Twitter, where X users were spiraling at the idea of Deschanel not being the first choice.

You can watch the full interview here:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Katie Holmes has given memorable performances, like her parts in Dawson's Creek and Batman Begins, so there's no doubt that should would have done a great job.

But with the film being 22 years old and fans loving the pairing of Ferrell with Deschanel, it's hard to imagine anyone else spreading Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear.