We all know that Elf is one of the best Christmas movies ever made. It’s pure joy from start to finish and I literally have never met anyone who doesn’t love it. That’s why it was such a treat to see that stars Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell reunited (via Zoom, of course) to give a 2020 rendition of their duet of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” from the movie.
- It was part of a charity table reading. Deschanel and Ferrell were already online along with Mary Steenburgen, Amy Sedaris, and other cast members, for a live table reading of the Elf script in order to raise money for the Democratic Party of Georgia in advance of the January 2021 state run-off in the state.
- When it came time for the duet scene, Ferrell jumped right in. Together, Buddy and Jovie sang just like they did in the movie and it was a special movie for everyone watching. Deschanel even acted out the shock Jovie felt when Buddy walked in on her while she was in the shower!
- The duet wasn’t even supposed to be in the movie! Deschanel revealed in a November interview with Entertainment Weekly that the duet scene was only added last minute so she could show off her vocal range. “I remember [director] Jon Favreau telling me that they were catering it to whoever played the part,” she recalled. “One actress they were looking at was good at skateboarding. But I had a cabaret act at the time, and I was performing a lot. They knew that I was a singer, so they put that in to be my special thing that he could discover I was good at.”
- The event raised a ton of money for charity. Following the event, Deschanel thanked her followers for tuning into the live stream and revealed that they raised more than $400,000 with the event, which is incredible. “So excited we were able to reach our goal of over $400k!” she said on Twitter. “Loved reuniting with the cast and all our very special guests.”
