Eleven Star Mark Acheson has revealed that the now-viral scene between him and the film’s lead actor Will Ferrell was almost cut.

Acheson, now 67, appears in the middle of the 2003 family comedy when Ferrell’s buddy is sent to the mailroom of his father’s (James Caan) office building.

Referred to simply as “the guy from the mailroom,” he meets Buddy, who cheerfully asks him how he ended up there. “Work release,” Acheson’s character replies before pouring a bottle of alcohol into his coffee cup.

In a new interview, Acheson recalled getting a call from his agent about doing the one-liner for the film with Ferrell.

“I called my agent and he said, ‘Listen, they want you to come over and do a line with Will Ferrell.’ Do you want to do it?’ And I said: Yes, I would like to do that. I was just supposed to say work release and that was the end of it,” Acheson said People.

However, director Jon Favreau decided to have Acheson and Ferrell, now 57, improvise an entire scene.

During the scene in the mailroom, Buddy naively assumes that the bottle of alcohol is a bottle of syrup and asks to try some. After Acheson complies, the two lie drunk together in a mail van.

The two continue to talk while Acheson tells Buddy that he needs to break away from his daily routine because he’s 26 and “has nothing to show for it.”

“You’re young, you’re so young,” Buddy replies.

Acheson recalled: “That’s why the producers wanted to cut the whole scene. I’m like, ‘Who’s going to believe this guy is 26?’ I mean, seriously. I think I was 46 years old at the time and older, 46 years old. Because I’ve never looked young in my life.”

Instead, Favreau “fought” for the scene. “He said that’s the joke, that’s the funny part, right?” Acheson recounted, adding that Favreau “kept me in check” even though producers wanted to cut the entire scene.

“And thank God for me, because it changed my career quite a bit,” he said.

Acheson’s statement about turning 26 has since become a popular sound on TikTok, with one user jokingly asking, “Do you ever have a Monday where you wake up and feel like the 26-year-old postal worker?” Eleven? Because that’s how I feel right now.”

“POV you see Eleven “I’m 25 and I realize there’s no way that man in the mailroom can be 26 years old,” another quipped.

Ferrell led the Christmas classic as Buddy, a grown man who, after being raised by elves at the North Pole, believes he is one too. However, when he realizes that he doesn’t fit in, he sets out to find his real father.

Eleven will stream on Hulu and Max this Christmas. You can also rent it on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video and Google Play Movies