Entertainment · Film · 4 hrs ago
Andy Richter says Elf filmed interiors at a functioning psychiatric hospital
Actor Andy Richter says Elf filmed most interiors at a psychiatric hospital while the facility was still partly operating.
The 2003 Christmas comedy was filmed at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, near Vancouver.
Richter said offices, the Hobbs family home and the mailroom were among the sets built in empty wings.
Another wing still had patients, he said.
Production used the hospital because studio space was limited, partly because a large vampire movie was also filming there.
Richter said he kept to the set, trailer and hotel, while Will Ferrell spent months around the hospital in his elf costume.
Richter wondered what patients made of seeing Ferrell, but he did not describe their reactions.
Andy Richter said interiors for the 2003 film Elf were filmed in a psychiatric hospital that was still partly operating.
The hospital was Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, near Vancouver.
Richter said the production used a couple of empty wings, while another wing still had patients.
He said limited studio space contributed to the choice of location.
Richter recalled that Will Ferrell spent a month or two around the hospital in his elf costume.
- Who
- Andy Richter, who played Morris in Elf, described the filming.
- What
- Interiors for Elf were filmed in a partly functioning psychiatric hospital.
- When
- The film was released in 2003. The interview was published Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
- Where
- Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, near Vancouver.
- Why
- Richter said studio space was limited, partly because a big vampire movie was also filming there.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Elf was released.
The production filmed interiors in empty wings of Riverview Hospital while another wing still had patients.
Page Six published Richter’s account of the filming in an interview with Us Weekly.
- Film
- Elf
- Release year
- 2003
- Hospital
- Riverview Hospital
- Location
- Coquitlam, British Columbia, near Vancouver
- Filming areas
- A couple of empty wings
- Patients
- Another wing still had patients in it
What people are saying
That’s where the offices are, the Hobbs’ home, the mailroom; almost all the interiors of the movie are in a mental hospital that was still functioning a little bit
There was still a wing of the hospital that had patients in it
Will was all over that place for a month or two, like what were people thinking?