Will Ferrell has refused to play one character again after effect it had on his co-star

Will Ferrell revealed that he simply can't bring himself to play one character again, which got on the nerves of one of his co-stars.

The American actor is known for portraying a number of iconic roles throughout the 2000s. Whether it's Ron Burgundy in Anchorman or Brennan in Step Brothers, you'll have seen him in a number of comedic roles in the last 20 years.

However, despite doing sequels to the likes of Zoolander and Daddy's Home, there's one particularly memorable role that he won't be revisiting.

Ferrell's Christmas movie Elf might be one of the most popular festive films ever made, but the 57-year-old revealed that he's hung up the green outfit for good.

But one of the driving forces behind it was how much his co-star James Caan hated it.

Ferrell played Buddy Hobbs in the film, an overly-excited human brought up by Santa's Elves, while Caan played his biological father Walter.

If you remember correctly, Buddy was an eccentric, loud, Christmas lover, while his on-screen Dad wasn't, as Ferrell explained on the Messy podcast that Caan actually didn't like the character off-camera too, telling him that he wasn't funny.

Admitting that he drove Caan 'crazy' on set, the actor explained: “James Caan, may he rest in peace, we had such a good time working on that movie,

“He would tease me. I like to do bits but I’m not like ‘on’ all the time. In between set ups, [Caan] would be like, ‘I don’t get you. You’re not funny.’ And I’m like, ‘I know. I’m not Robin Williams.’”

Caan never liked Buddy in the 2003 flick (Warner Bros)

Ferrell went on: “And he was like, ‘People ask me: Is he funny? And I’m like, 'No, he’s not funny'. It was all with love but at the same time…”

But it turns out that the late actor would come around, making an admission after watching the film's premiere.

“He was like, ‘I’ve got to tell you: I thought everything you were doing while we were filming was way too over the top. Now that I see it in the movie, it’s brilliant,’” Ferrell recalled.

“But I love that the whole time, he’s not acting. He’s truly annoyed with me. He’s like, ‘Can this guy shut the f*** up? Jesus.’

“I literally drove him crazy in that movie, just acting like that kid. But that was the funniest thing, him walking out of the theatre and shaking his head and going ‘it’s brilliant’,” the actor fondly remembered.

Ferrell loved that Caan came around on the character (James Devaney/WireImage)

The Jon Favreau-directed title is viewed as a holiday classic, but it turns out that Ferrell once turned down a chance to do Elf 2.

He was offered up a handsome $29 million (£23.2 million) to be in a sequel to the film, but explained: “I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money.’”

Obviously, he admitted that he just wouldn't be allowed to say those words, so he couldn't do the movie.

Oh, what could have been.