The Poster Memorabilia blog

It’s Always a Holiday with Will Ferrell

Buddy the Elf, out of costume and in a navy suit — still the funniest man on the carpet.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

They really couldn't have picked a better actor to star in Elf than Will Ferrell. The man is funny from the inside out, almost as if he's comedy incarnate. I know SNL has produced countless legends over the years, but I still consider him the funniest of them all. Better than Chevy Chase, Tina Fey, and more.

Only someone capable of producing his level of comedy could've played a character like Buddy Hobbs. Anyone else would've been cringey or downright annoying in the role. The character of a human adult thinking he's some kind of elf needs its actor to be ridiculous, and Ferrell can do that and still give a sincere performance at the same time.

In fact, I think he's more like Buddy than he himself might realize. I know he only performs comedy on screen, but when I met him in real life, I felt like he only knew how to be funny. I know that's a weird thing to say, but hear me out.

I saw Will Ferrell in person at the New York City premiere of Daddy's Home in 2015. I know it was for a different film, but I went anyway and brought my Elf poster, hoping he'd sign it. I planned to have the rest of the cast sign it, too, which I eventually did over the years, but I wanted him to be the first.

Strangely enough, Ferrell looked pretty serious that night. It's not like I expected him to look like an elf or even a clown on the red carpet, but I was surprised how well he managed to spruce himself up. At that point, I had only seen him in either SNL or his many comedy movies since, and he rarely looked as refined as he did that night.

With his snazzy navy suit and coiffed gray hair, you wouldn't have thought that one of the funniest men in the world stood on that red carpet that night. Of course, looks can be deceiving, and when he started interacting with fans, his inner clown came out.

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The actor was fairly polite for the most part, but he couldn't stop cracking jokes as he made his way through the fans. I could barely hold it in when he came to me, and if he hadn't seen the poster in my hand, I would've missed the chance to ask him to sign it.

“You'll stay laughing when you're around Will Ferrell, almost as if it's always a holiday with him.”

I could tell he loved making people laugh and seeing our reactions energized him even more. I didn't know the man personally, but I got a good sense that he's probably like that all the time, too. You'll stay laughing when you're around Will Ferrell, almost as if it's always a holiday with him.

Elf may be a ridiculous movie to a lot of people, but I think it solidified Will Ferrell as a true movie star. Not only was it a massive commercial and critical hit, but it also introduced one of the most beloved Christmas characters ever.

In my opinion, if an actor can give that kind of iconic performance, then he deserves his place on the A-list.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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