Will Ferrell Reveals The Classic Christmas Character He Played Before 'Elf' Fame

Will Ferrell isnt holding back on the time he acted as another famous Christmas character years before he starred in the iconic holiday movie Elf .

Ferrell, who starred as Buddy the Elf in the 2003 Christmas film, spoke with Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday about whether hed play Santa Claus in an upcoming movie and described his hesitation about the potential role before he revealed his past ties to Kris Kringle.

He told the late night host that he was a mall Santa alongside an elf, former Saturday Night Live co-star Chris Kattan , in Old Town Pasadena during his struggling days as an actor.

Ferrell said the duo walked around an open-air mall for four straight weekends and joked that they were mobile Santa and his elf as they never had a chair or sleigh setup.

Wed be like, Hello, J. Crew, ho ho ho, Merry Christmas, Sephora, how is everyone doing, and they got so sick of us, by the fourth weekend theyd be like, Hi, Santa, Ferrell joked.

Ferrell added that he and his SNL co-star were once chatting with two of Kevin Costner s kids and he remarked about the kids playing on a canine-shaped scultpure.

As Santa, I was like, Oh, you children sure love that little coyote, and Kattan couldnt help himself. He was like, It looks like theyre dancing. In fact, it looks like theyre dancing with wolves , said Ferrell, who added that Costner ushered his kids away from them.

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You can watch more from Ferrells interview with Fallon below.

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