Will Ferrell speaks out after backlash against his NFL game cameo as Buddy the Elf
Following fan outrage over the stunt, Will Ferrell has spoken out after the backlash against his surprise appearance as Buddy the Elf at an NHL game in December.
Will Ferrell has spoken out after the backlash against his surprise appearance as Buddy the Elf at an NHL game in December.
The unexpected moment, which quickly went viral, saw the 57-year-old actor don his now iconic green Buddy costume from the 2003 holiday hit Elf – but with the twist he wasn’t the innocent, cheerfully naive character beloved from the film as he sat scowling, sipping beer and holding a cigarette.
He’s now admitted to People about the moment: “Some people were not too happy.”
Will added: “They thought, ‘Please be true to the character. That was not cool.’”
But the actor explained Buddy was simply having “a bad day”, joking the character had decided to attend the Los Angeles Kings vs Philadelphia Flyers game while indulging in beer and cigarettes.
He said about how he got the idea on a whim “(My family are) season ticket holders for the L.A. Kings. We have seats right on the glass, which are amazing.
“I told my wife, ‘Over the break, it would be funny if I just got a Buddy the Elf costume and didn’t shave for like a week. I’m just gonna sit there for a period and see how people react'."
During a chat with People alongside actress Reese Witherspoon, with whom Will stars alongside in the upcoming comedy ‘You’re Cordially Invited’, the actor opened up about the Buddy costume.
Reese asked him: “Where’d you get your Buddy costume? Amazon?”
Will replied: “I did.”
The actor also joked about owning other costumes from films such as ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ and ‘Blades of Glory’, saying he has them “box framed”.
In ‘You’re Cordially Invited’, Will plays Jim, a father of a bride-to-be caught in a wedding venue mishap with Reese’s character Margo.
