13. A natural brunette, Zooey Deschanel sported light blonde locks as Jovie, Buddy’s fellow Gimbels elf and love interest. But she didn’t dye her hair for this role.
“I had to dye my hair blonde for a screen test for a movie that never happened before I did Elf. And I went in for the meeting for Elf, and then I asked them, ‘Could I dye my hair back to my natural color?'” the New Girl star told Stylecaster. “And they said, ‘No, you have to keep your hair what it was in the meeting.’ So I had to wait until I was done with that movie. But as soon as I was done with that movie, I pretty much dyed it back.”
14. Ming Ming the elf is played by A Christmas Story star Peter Billingsley in a cameo role, a casting move Favreau made for a specific reason.
“I wanted some of the Christmas Story, that good mojo, that was our goal,” he told Billingsley on ABC News. “We were half-joking, saying, ‘Maybe someday this will be like Christmas Story where every year they’ll watch it.'”