What was your reaction when you saw yourself in it for the first time?
W.F. I actually started laughing. I couldn't believe that I was going to shoot a scene in New York City's Lincoln Tunnel in this outfit and sure enough, I was. There were bus drivers honking at me. It was the first day of shooting, so it was just very surreal and there was no gradual getting used to it. I was immediately thrust into the most bizarre situations.

I guess that's the best way to do it.
W.F. Yeah, I just dove in with both feet.

Did you find yourself relating to Buddy?
W.F. It's always fun to play really earnest, overly optimistic characters and it was great to also play someone who had no preconceived notions of the way New York City should be or the way people interact. Buddy just viewed the world without any filters and that's just great. He had very honest intentions and I loved that about him.

In your last film Old School, you had a scene where you had to run around naked. I guess that was definitely not on the agenda for Elf?
W.F. No, no nakedness in Elf, had to keep it PG you know - although I do get to wear yellow tights. So I guess I've kind of graduated.

How was it being on set with veterans like Ed Asner and Bob Newhart?
W.F. It was great. I just tried not to talk too much and let them tell the stories. The same went for James Caan.

I heard that James kept you in your place. No messing around with that guy!
W.F. He did. There is still some bad blood between us, but we won't go into that. (laughs)

With James Caan playing your dad, did you ever get a bit nervous that he might pull a "Godfather" on you?
W.F. Yeah, I'd often look at him and think, this guy was in one of the greatest movies, ever! I mean how many times do you have the opportunity to have Sonny Corleone play your dad and try to keep a straight face. It was too funny working with that guy.

Was it scary to leave Saturday Night Live when you did? You were really in your prime on that show at the time, and it must have been weird having that security and taking the leap into films.
W.F. Yeah, it was a little bit scary. It's human nature to stay where you are most comfortable and I really felt like that was my home and for that same reason I knew that it was a good time to leave because I want to always challenge myself, so I wanted to leave at a time where I felt like I had been there long enough, but not so long that I would become jaded. On some level I feel like I could have been on SNL for as long as I wanted and been okay with it creatively, but there were just certain opportunities ahead of me that it felt like a good time to go.

You recently finished shooting a film you wrote.
W.F. It's called Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and I co-wrote it with Adam McKay, who was one of the head writers on Saturday Night Live. We've become good friends - we just clicked - and have written a couple of screenplays together. This one's about a local TV news anchorman in 1975 and Christina Applegate stars as the first TV news anchor woman. She's bright and beautiful, and smart - everything that my character Ron Burgundy isn't. He can
essentially read the news - and that's it.

You also have some great projects coming up, especially getting the chance to work on Woody Allen's next film.
W.F. Yeah, it's amazing. I hope I don't get fired!

- Bonnie Laufer-Krebs