“Elf” turns 20 years old this year
1. Will Ferrell wasn’t the first choice to play Buddy the Elf. The script was written all the way back in 1993 with Jim Carrey in mind. But he dropped out sometime during the decade it took to get it made.
2. Buddy was originally written as a “darker” character.
3. Buddy’s costume was based on the outfits the elves wore in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.
5. The cotton balls Buddy eats in the doctor’s office are actually un-dyed cotton candy.
6. Will Ferrell really ate all that sugar, including the maple syrup-coated spaghetti and candy.
7. Buddy’s fight with the fake Santa played by Artie Lange was done in ONE TAKE, because it took the art department WEEKS to decorate the department store. The director told them to just go nuts and wreck it.
8. Will turned down a reported $29 million to make a sequel . . . because he was worried it would suck and people would accuse him of doing it for the money. FYI: James Caan claims the REAL reason was because Will and the director didn’t get along.
Megan Fox got pregnant by Machine Gun Kelly, but she miscarried the child about 10 weeks in. She makes some references to it in her new poetry book “Pretty Boys Are Poisonous” . . . which came out yesterday. And in an interview with “Good Morning America”, she said, quote, “I’ve never been through anything like that in my life. “I have three kids, so it was very difficult for both of us and it sent us on a very wild journey together and separately . . . trying to navigate, ‘What does this mean?’ and ‘Why did this happen?'” Megan also said she’s been in several abusive relationships with “horrific” people who were very famous. But we don’t know who they are, and she’s not naming names.
Celebrities who don’t . . . or didn’t . . . want to have kids includes Miley Cyrus, Oprah, Seth Rogen, Jon Hamm, and Stevie Nicks, who said, quote, “I don’t want to go to PTA meetings.”
Kenny Chesney’s announced the details of his “Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour” . . . and each one is going to be a stadium event. He’s bringing Zac Brown Band, Megan Moroney, and Uncle Kracker as openers. “I can’t wait to get back out there, stadium-sized ’cause there’s nothing like 60,000 members of No Shoes Nation singing these songs. It’s gonna be awesome.” It kicks off April 20th in Tampa, Florida . . . and wraps August 23rd in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Tickets will go on sale a week from Friday, which is November 17th. JUN 8, 2024 PHILADELPHIA LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELD AUG 17, 2024 EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ METLIFE STADIUM
Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning WILL be doing jokes when they host tonight’s CMAs . . . . but they will NOT be going rough on people. Luke says they have to consider who can tolerate the wicked stuff. “Everybody’s so sensitive these days. We’ll have some fun with the people out there, but it’s a little more tame these days. You don’t have to worry about any Oscars slaps or things like that.” If that sounds boring, PEYTON says there are two guys they WILL be hitting hard. Each other. “Luke and I both have thick skin, and the more that the joke can be on us, we are for it, right? “Both of us believe in self-deprecating humor, as you can see right here in front of you, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. This is supposed to be a celebration, and we’re not here to make anybody mad or disappoint anybody.”
If and when Luke Combs wins a CMA Award tonight, pay close attention to his acceptance speech, because it WON’T be written down. “I’ve never [written] a speech. Ever. For anything. I feel like it would be bad luck to start now. I’ve always wanted to say what happens in the moment. Whatever emotion I’m really feeling.” Luke says hates written speeches because the artist ends up saying stuff to please everyone, which he thinks is disingenuous. SO . . . when he sees a winner start pulling out an index card with a scripted speech, he’s out. “I don’t want to hear it. Don’t believe it. The card’s a lie. The card feels very political. It’s like, ‘I’ve got to make sure to say this thing.’
Tim McGraw just did a big interview with “Time” magazine and talked about why America is so divided right now. He thinks the 24-hour news cycle has a lot to do with it, and also the echo-chamber we call social media. He said most of us only hear from a “small segment” instead of hearing “what the majority of people really think and feel.” And what we do hear from that small segment isn’t always true. So how do we fix the divide? He thinks it would be a great start if we got back to realizing “we’re more alike than we are different.”
A live-action “Legend of Zelda” movie is in the works.
Lauren Alaina is 29. “Road Less Traveled”. Scotty McCreery’s runner-up on “American Idol”.
Jack Osbourne is 38. Ozzy’s son
Courtney Thorne-Smith is 56. Jim Belushi’s wife on “According to Jim”, and Georgia on “Ally McBeal”.
Gordon Ramsay is 57.
Leif Garrett is 62. “I Was Made for Dancin'”.
Rickie Lee Jones is 69. “Chuck E.’s In Love”.
Alfre Woodard is 71.
Bonnie Raitt is 74. “Something to Talk About”, “I Can’t Make You Love Me”,
