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Will Ferrell dressing up as Buddy the Elf at a hockey game? Sounds like this was just another day in the life for his wife, Viveca Paulin.
Ferrell, 57, says his wife had a nonchalant reaction when he told her about his idea to channel his beloved character from “Elf” during a Philadelphia Flyers-Los Angeles Kings game in Los Angeles on Dec. 29.
“I just told my wife, ‘You know what, I want to go to a Kings game and just dress as Buddy the Elf with a cigarette,’” he said Jan. 28 on TODAY. “She just is like, ‘OK.’”
This particular version of Buddy had maybe fallen onto some hard times: He had a five-o’clock shadow, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, which Ferrell shared on the “New Heights” podcast was a candy cigarette, and sipped what looked like a beer.
“I think Buddy got laid off,” Ferrell joked on TODAY.
He said when he told his wife about his plans, she fully committed to the bit.
“I’m like, ‘You can’t smile, you can’t break.’ That’s why in a lot of the photos she’s like this, trying not to laugh,” he said, holding his hand up to his mouth to mimic how his wife kept a straight face during the game.
“But my family indulges me in strange moments like this,” he added.
Ferrell is known for dressing up as characters from his most famous movies at the most unexpected moments.
In 2023, he appeared at his son Magnus’ fraternity party dressed as Frank the Tank from his 2003 movie “Old School,” and pumped up the crowd as the guest DJ.
Magnus, 20, is the oldest of Ferrell and Paulin’s three sons. They also share Mattias and Axel.
Ferrell also posed as a security guard at the Staples Center in 2013 and escorted Shaquille O’Neal out of the stadium.
Savannah Guthrie asked Ferrell if he had any future stunts up his sleeve, but he said he doesn’t plan them too far in advance.
“They usually just come to me. I don’t have the latest and greatest, but yeah, it’s just kind of a way to connect with the audience,” he said. “And I love the fact that half the people are like, what is he doing?”
He also joked that maybe fans’ confusion about his previous stunts might have held him back from winning the People’s Sexiest Man Alive award, which he campaigned for last year.
“Well, maybe you should try something sexy in the wild,” Savannah suggested for his future performance art.
Ferrell replied, “Are you saying those things aren’t sexy?”
Lindsay Lowe has been a regular contributor to TODAY.com since 2016, covering pop culture, style, home and other lifestyle topics. She is also working on her first novel, a domestic drama set in rural Regency England.
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