The reunion of the Elf was star-studded! Yes, the entire original cast of the Christmas movie was available during the table read. Elf stars such as Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrell were joined by other actors such as Ed Helms, Wanda Sykes, and John Lithgow for the live script reading on Dec. 13.
The event was held to raise funds for the Democratic Party of Georgia while flipping the U.S. Senate. The efforts of the live stream were made in order to elect Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Ashley Nicole Black hosted the live stream while she was also a part of the live reading.
The 35-year-old comedian admitted that she didn't have to use the script as she had seen the film numerous times. Deschanel, who portrayed Jovie's character, and Ferrell portrayed Buddy, reprised their characters to perform a popular scene, Baby, It's Cold Outside.
More original cast members participated in the event, such as Mary Steenburgen, who played Emily, Edward Asner portrayed Santa, and Papa Elf was portrayed by Bob Newhart. There were some more members on the panel, including Andy Richter, Kyle Gass, and Amy Sedaris.
Besides the original cast, some special guests attended the live reading, including Sykes, who portrayed the Gimbel's department store manager at the Christmas display, Walter's role was played by James Caan while Danny Woodburn portrayed Peter Dinklage's character, who was a children's author Miles Finch.
On the other hand, Busy Phillips, Ed Helms, and Jeong portrayed various characters during the event. There was also a surprise element during the table read as speechwriter and Pod Save America host, Jon Favreau, who portrayed a doctor in the film, also appeared.
The live reading went on for one hour and forty minutes while there was no personal discussion between the actors. Although Helms confirmed during the break that the climax of the film doesn't feature the most popular song, unlike the movie Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. However, after the climax, the cast members sang Jingle Bells.
"We think that perhaps Republicans own the rights to that song because we got an unkind email when we asked for the rights to do it today. That's what I heard anyway," Helms said. Moreover, the 46-year-old actor noted that he is a native of Georgia and supports Ossoff and Warnock for being incredible human beings and incredible candidates.
While the goal of the fundraiser for $400,000, it reached $325,000 when the event began and eventually collected $402,966.