But it wasn't just the fans who were impressed by Xiang Zuo's new look. Xiao Hua, the talented hairstylist behind the transformation, also expressed her satisfaction with the result. In a statement to the press, she revealed that she drew inspiration from Xiang Zuo's unique facial features and personality to create a hairstyle that perfectly complemented his look.
Man Dies from Overdose of Self-Prescribed Supplements Due to Fear of Coldness: Caution Needed in Blindly Taking SupplementsThe best way to spread Christmas cheer is by improvising a quote people will remember for decades. Which is exactly what Will Ferrell and Mark Acheson did while making 2003's holiday classic Elf . Although Mark—who plays Mailroom Guy during a fan-favorite scene— admitted that his most famous line almost ended up on the cutting room floor. "I called my agent and he said, 'Listen, they would like you to come and do one line with Will Ferrell. Would you like to do it?' And I said, 'Yeah, I'd be happy to do that,'" Mark told People in an interview published Dec. 20. "I was only supposed to say ‘work release' and that was the end of it." But during what he called "the weirdest day " imaginable on set, Elf director Jon Favreau requested that Mark and Will do a bit of improv for the scene where Will's Buddy the Elf thinks he's drinking coffee and syrup when in reality he's getting drunk, leading the two to their existential discussion in the mailroom. "I'm in the flow, that's what got me in here," Mark's character confesses before his now famous line. "I'm 26-years-old, I got nothin' to show for it." But as Buddy tells him, "You're young, you're so young. My Papa, he didn't make Master Tinker until he was 490." And while the joke about his age is now a favorite for fans of the movie, the scene almost got edited out . "The producers wanted to axe the whole scene because of that," Mark , 67, explained. "I think, 'Who is gonna believe this guy is 26?' I mean, seriously. I believe I was 46 at the time and an older 46 even at that. Because I never looked young in my life." But Jon fought for the scene to remain, noting that's what makes the joke work. "He kept me in but they, they didn't want me," Mark recalled, "but he did and thank God for me because it changed my career quite a bit." And while Mark has appeared in numerous movies and TV series over the years— including appearances on shows like The X-Files , Supernatural and Fargo —his quip about being 26 has lived on in the minds of fans for over two decades. "With every passing year I watch this movie (esp now at 27)," one fan posted to TikTok alongside a clip from the scene, "I find it more and more ridiculous this man is supposed to be a 26yo." One user responded in the comments, "I watched it this year and gasped when he said 26." Another added, "Idk this is how I feel at 27." One person had a different take, noting, "I think it's like a child's perspective because when we were little we thought someone 26 looked old." But as one TikToker noted, "That's the joke, I fear." Curious about more behind the scenes secrets from Elf ? Keep reading. 1. The first script fo r Elf was actually written in 1993, with Jim Carrey in mind to play the titular Santa's helper. Because it took over a decade for the film to finally be made, the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective star never ended up taking on the role, which proved to be the ultimate Christmas gift for Will Ferrell . 2. Elf was also initially intended to be a bit more sinister, with director Jon Favreau revealing to Rolling Stone , "He was a darker character." 3. Before he was asked to come in to rewrite the script and transform the movie into a PG friendly-family affair, Favreau initially turned down the job. "I took a look at the script, and I wasn't particularly interested," he told Rolling Stone . "It was a much darker version of the film. I liked the notion of being involved with Will in his first solo movie after SNL , but it wasn't quite there." 4. Buddy's iconic costume was modeled off of the elves from the 1964 Rankin/Bass film Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer . "The costume was important," Favreau told ABC News. "It looks almost like he's a puppet and the tights and the boots and the hat and he was extremely brave wearing that costume." 5. Costume designer Laura Jean Shannon , tasked with finding the perfect look, revealed it wasn't accommodating Ferrell's 6-foot-3 frame that was the hardest part of her job. "It was less a challenge dressing Will due to his size and more a challenge to make sure nothing seemed off-putting or in bad taste." she explained to Feel Christmassy. "After all, I had to dress a grown man in tights and a cutaway coat. Needless to say, we did have a fair amount of fittings to be sure we struck the right balance between absurd and adorable." 6. Ferrell's Buddy costume was so captivating that the actor actually caused a few traffic incidents while filming in New York City. "When we had Will in the Lincoln Tunnel, the tunnel was open. Same thing with the 59th Street Bridge," Favreau told Rolling Stone . "Whenever he was out there in his suit, we'd hear screeches and fender-benders and lights smashing. People would be looking at him walking on the side and that would cause a few minor traffic accidents." 7. Buddy's infamous 12-second long burp wasn't actually performed by Ferrell. Voice actor Maurice LaMarche , best known for giving life to The Brain on Pinky and the Brain , provided the dinner table belch. And, yes, we heard that. 8. The cotton balls Buddy can't stop eating in the doctor's office were actually pieces of cotton candy that had yet to be dyed. 9. Buddy's all-sugar diet also became Ferrell's daily food intake while filming as he actually scarfed down all of that maple syrup-coated spaghetti and candy during scenes. "I ingested a lot of sugar in this movie and I didn't get a lot of sleep," Ferrell told The Sun . "I constantly stayed up. But anything for the movie, I'm there. If it takes eating a lot of maple syrup, then I will, if that's what the job calls for." 10. The late James Caan didn't have to act all that hard to nail his role as Buddy's reluctant father Walter. "I literally drove him crazy in that movie," Ferrell explained to Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler during a July 2024 appearance on their MeSsy podcast . “In between setups, he’d be like, 'I don’t get you. You’re not funny.' And I’m like, 'I know. I’m not Robin Williams .'" But the dynamic worked, acknowledged Ferrell. “I love that the whole time, he’s not acting," he continued. "He’s truly annoyed with me. He’s like, 'Can this guy shut the f--k up?'" 11. Determined to maintain the old school aesthetic, Favreau told Rolling Stone he didn’t want to make the film “a big CGI extravaganza," only using the technology to add some snow. “I like motion-control, models, matte paintings,” he explained. “It feels timeless. And stop-motion is my favorite. There were a lot of challenges to do that stuff in stop-motion. I had to fight very hard not to do that stuff in CGI.” 12. While Ferrell does have several inches on 5-foot-8 Bob Newhart (a.k.a. Papa Elf), Favreau revealed they used “forced perspective” to make it appear as if the SNL alum was towering over everyone else at the North Pole. Building two sets, one larger than the other, meant “if you look closely, you can see the two sets meet because we didn’t use CG to paint over that or blur it," Favreau explained. "I wanted it to have the same flaws that it would have had [before CGI], to make the movie feel more timeless. It made for great souvenirs. I have a Louisville Slugger that’s four and a half feet long in my office, that the elves were building.” 13. They came this close to filming the Santa scene at Macy's. However, one of the stipulations was removing the scene where Buddy called out the department store Santa, played by comedian Artie Lange , as fake "because their Santa has to be real," Favreau explained to Rolling Stone . "We had to think long and hard about it." Eventually they ended up filming in the cafeteria of a Vancouver mental hospital. They named their store Gimbels as a nod to 1947's Miracle on 34th Street . 14. When Zooey Deschanel was cast as Buddy's love interest Jovie, the film's producers decided to inject a shot of warmth with her peformance of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." "I remember Jon Favreau telling me that they were catering it to whoever played the part," Deschanel told Entertainment Weekly in 2020. "One actress they were looking at was good at skateboarding. But I had a cabaret act at the time and I was performing a lot. They knew that I was a singer, so they put that in to be my special thing that he could discover I was good at." 15. Some of Buddy's most iconic lines—"You smell like beef and cheese!" and "You sit on a throne of lies!"—were improvised by Ferrell in the moment. 16. The big fight scene between Ferrell and Lange was filmed in one take because it took the art department weeks to decorate Gimbels. "We had one take to destroy it," Lange told ABC News, "So Favreau said, 'Just go nuts!'" 17. While most people know Favreau had a small role as the pediatrician who examines Buddy and confirms he's Walter's son, the director also had another part: He voiced the Narwhal who infamously said, "Bye Buddy, hope you find your dad!" 18. Ferrell turned down a reported $29 million paycheck to reprise the role of Buddy for a sequel, telling The Guardian in 2006 that it "wasn't difficult at all" to pass on the opportunity."I remember asking myself: could I withstand the criticism when it's bad and they say, 'He did the sequel for the money?'" he explained. "I decided I wouldn't be able to. I didn't want to wander into an area that could erase all the good work I've done—but you watch, I'll do some sequel in the future that's crap." 19. But Caan alleged it was tension between Ferrell and Favreau that possibly squashed any plans for a follow-up. "We were gonna do it, and I thought, 'Oh my God, I finally have a franchise movie. I can make some money, let my kids do what the hell they want to do,'" he said on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland. "The director and Will didn't get along very well. Will wanted to do it, and he didn't want the director. He had it in his contract. It was one of those things." 20. While a sequel won't be found in anyone's stockings, fans were gifted with a Broadway musical inspired by the film in 2010. The show ran through 2013 and traveled overseas to the West End in 2015.Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 6 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 1:52 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was down less than 0.1%. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday. Chip company Broadcom rose 2.9%, Micron Technology was up 1% and Adobe gained 0.8%. While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.7%, Amazon was down 0.6%, and Netflix gave up 1.1%. Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, down 1.9%. Health care stocks helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.7% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 2.8%, Best Buy was up 2.2% and Dollar Tree gained 2.7%. Retailers are hoping for a solid sales this holiday season, and the day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. U.S.-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4% and 16%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine. Traders got a labor market update. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week , though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported. Treasury yields turned mostly lower in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.57% from 4.59% late Tuesday. Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar. Still, U.S. markets have historically gotten a boost at year’s end despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 26% so far this year and remains near its most recent all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to next week, including updates on pending home sales and home prices, a report on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity. AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Cobie Montgomery had 21 points in Southern Miss' 81-64 win over Alabama State on Thursday. Montgomery shot 6 for 10 (6 for 9 from 3-point range) and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Golden Eagles (4-4). Denijay Harris scored 20 points and added 20 rebounds. Neftali Alvarez shot 4 of 6 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 13 points, while adding six rebounds. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a weekWhile the potential remake of "Need for Speed 9" is still in the consideration stage, the rumors have already generated excitement and speculation among gaming communities. Fans are eager to see how EA will approach modernizing this classic title and what new elements they may introduce to revitalize the experience. Whether it's revisiting iconic races, outmaneuvering the police, or cruising through dynamic open-world environments, the remake of "Need for Speed 9" has the potential to reignite the passion for high-octane racing in the hearts of players worldwide.
