'Elf' Casting Director on Who She'd Pick to Play Buddy in a Remake: 'He's Quirky and Endearing' (Exclusive) (2024)

There's no Elf remake or sequel on the table at the moment — but Susie Farris can dream!

The casting director on the 2003 Christmas comedy (which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary) tells PEOPLE that she would "live to" work on a remake, if one ever came to fruition.

Asked whom she'd cast as Buddy, originally played by Will Ferrell, Farris says, "Off the top of my head, I'm just going to say Bill Hader."

"I just think that he's quirky and endearing and yeah, I'd like to see Bill Hader," she adds.

Like Ferrell, 56, Hader, 45, is a former Saturday Night Live cast member and has starred in his fair share of comedy films — even in the holiday genre with 2019's Noelle, opposite Anna Kendrick.

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Ferrell has declined starring in a sequel in the past, and Farris says now, "I've read that Will felt like he gave this character all that he could give it."

"I think if Will wanted to do a sequel, there would be a sequel," she adds. "Creatively, I hope that he is very fulfilled in life, but I'd like him to do this."

As for what a follow-up could possibly entail, "I want to see Buddy as a dad," Farris says.

Elf ends with Buddy and Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) getting their happily ever after, living at the North Pole as new parents to a baby girl named — incidentally! — Susie.

"I love Elle Fanning. I also really love Mckenna Grace," Farris says when asked whom she could envision playing Susie as a teenager or young adult.

While Farris didn't spend much time on the set of Elf, she does recall a sweet moment she shared with Ferrell during the premiere, which took place on the ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City — an important setting in the film, where Buddy and Jovie share their first kiss.

"I had never even met him, and I was introduced to him, or I said, 'Hi, I cast the movie,' " Farris tells PEOPLE. "And he said, 'Oh, hi Susie.' "

She says the "impressive" gesture from Ferrell, who was already attached to the film by the time she signed on, meant a lot, and "just informs about his character as a person."

"He knows everybody's name, and the kindness and generosity of No. 1 on your call sheet goes a really long way," Farris adds.

For more on Elf's 20th anniversary, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.