Elf star reveals the scene that was CUT from iconic 2003 Christmas movie – and how his ‘two word’ role turned into a ‘crazy’ 22-HOUR shoot with Will Ferrell

The film recently celebrated its 20th anniversary and is without a doubt one of the classic Christmas films watched every year by families around the world, and now an Elf star has revealed what it was really like working with Will Ferrell.

The 2003 film, directed by Jon Favreau, stars Will, 56, as Buddy Hobbs – aka Buddy the Elf – an eccentric human who was raised by Santa's elves and ends up searching for his biological father Walter Hobbs – played by James Caan – in New York City.

The film also stars Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen and Peter Dinklage, but perhaps one of the most memorable characters in the party hit is the mailroom worker – with whom Buddy eventually gets drunk after mistaking his alcohol for syrup.

Mark Acheson is the man who took on the role of Buddy's unexpected friend and spent almost an entire day on set with Will, even filming an epic Christmas carol scene that was cut from the movie and has never actually seen the light of day .

The feel-good holiday film was released in November 2003 and continues to be a hit with families around the world every year.

Mark Acheson played the role of a mailroom worker who eventually befriends Ferrell's character Buddy Hobbs

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Mark revealed that he was hired to say just two words in the film, but ended up spending 22 hours on set and as fans will know, he appears in the film more than once.

“The whole movie, the whole movie was a huge surprise to me – both in terms of how I appeared in it and what happened, and how it took off from there,” the 66-year-old actor explained.

'I was only asked for one line, I didn't audition for the film. Favreau asked if I wanted to come in and deliver one line, which was “work release,” and that would be the end of my day. I said, “So I'm going to work with Will Ferrell? Sure, yeah, I'll come over and do that!”

“And then we went on for 22 hours that day and added all the other stuff, and it was all a big surprise to me. That is indicative of the very last day of recording. I didn't know until later that this was the very last day of shooting for the entire film!'

When asked how he survived such a long day on set, Mark replied, “Well, I made a lot of sixteens. I've made a lot of sixteens in my career, but 22 is absolutely crazy. I got on set and they gave me one of the most beautiful trailers I've ever had in my life and I thought “well this will be fun, I won't be here long but I'll enjoy it” but then I don't want to be in the trailer at all!'

Mark continued, “It was the very last day of shooting Elf and that means there was no turnaround time for the crews, so they kept us for 22 hours, and I think Favreau and Ferrell just wanted to add as many things as they wanted. could think of because it was their last kick in front of the camera.'

One scene that was never included in the film – and footage that Mark still hasn't seen twenty years later – involved Buddy the Elf drenching Mark's character in buckets of water while they were filming the unforgettable dance scene.

'The very last thing Favreau did [said]…and this is something that really surprised me…is that we did the dancing at the very end, where Will Ferrell was dancing on the tables and Jon Favreau says, 'Mark, we want Will to pull down a water pipe. and we want you to sing a Christmas carol as loud as you can, while the gallons of water come crashing down on you all at once, and we have the The whole set is dammed so the streets don't get flooded, so you're good at that, Mark ?”

Mark was only hired to say two words, but ended up being cast in several scenes in the film

The 66-year-old actor confirmed that the scene where he lies next to Will was all ad-libbed

Elf grossed $220 million worldwide against a $33 million budget and remains one of the most popular Christmas films

Bob Newhart (left) also appears in the film, playing the role of Papa Elf, Buddy's adoptive father and the film's narrator

'And I said, “Yes, I absolutely love that idea!” and they drowned me like a rat! I walked into that caravan at the end of the day, 22 hours later, and I was completely soaked and drowning and I couldn't believe what a day I'd had!'

The actor confirmed that he still hasn't seen the footage all these years later: “There's no outtakes or anything like that, which really threw me off because I understand it's not in the movie, I understand that, but you would kind of think it took two hours to put it on, it would be somewhere in the outtakes, but no!'

Mark also revealed some behind-the-scenes secrets about the part of the film where he and Will lie side by side and laugh after their characters drink a little too much alcohol.

Referring to their conversation, Mark confirmed: 'It was all ad libbed. They put a few notes on the ceiling, things about age, ideas, where to go, but they just said, 'have some fun'.

“It was a very tough performance,” Mark joked at the time. 'Lying next to one of the funniest guys in film and TV and laughing. It was one of the easiest shifts I've ever done, and Will Ferrell and Jon Favreau… I just followed them and they were so nice and sweet to me.”

Mark even revealed that Jon actually had to convince movie bosses to keep his scenes in the film – because they weren't impressed with the scene where his character tells Buddy he's 26 years old.

“I was so happy with how I was left in that movie, but the producers wanted to cut me out of the whole picture and Favreau had to fight for me,” Mark revealed.

“They said, 'Who the hell is going to believe this guy is 26 years old?' and Favreau said, “That's the joke!” I mean, I was actually 46 when I delivered that line!'

Zooey Deschanel stars as Jovie, an unenthusiastic employee at Gimbels toy store and Buddy's love interest

Will and director Jon Favreau at the film premiere of Elf in New York City in November 2003

The Chronicles of Riddick actor admitted that he “got so much work” from starring in Elf, but had no idea at the time that the film would be such a big success.

“I was really surprised and I didn't know it was going to be that big, and I certainly didn't know it was going to be a classic,” he said. 'I've only done two or three that are pretty similar, but this definitely takes the cake.

“I always like it when I get a residual check from Elf because it's always substantial and never decreases, and I love that because it's kind of like my retirement account because I'm 66 now and semi-retired.”

However, despite his fond memories of working on the film, Mark admitted that he doesn't watch Elf every December: 'I do watch it every now and then, but I don't watch it every Christmas like other people are forced to. !'

'It has been a great advantage for me, because it is like advertising my career for free every year. But I did watch it a few weeks ago, because I went to Las Vegas for an autograph convention, and I watched it and thought, “This is a well-made movie.” It's well done, it really is.'