Will Ferrell is feeling grumpy heading into the New Year.
The funnyman took in a hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto Arena over the weekend dressed as a disheveled version of his character Buddy the Elf from the 2003 holiday classic Elf.
But this Buddy was far from feeling festive, with Ferrell looking rundown as he was pictured sporting a 5 o’clock shadow as a cigarette dangled from his mouth while he sat rinkside.
“Buddy the Elf is a huge Kings fan. But we’ve never, ever seen him like this,” FanDuel Sports Network broadcaster Carrlyn Bathe said in a clip shared to X. “I stopped by just to check in on him … he’s looking a little bit disgruntled.”
As he was captured sipping a beer, Bathe said that when she caught up with Ferrell’s Buddy, he admitted “it was a tough holiday season” and “he’s looking for a Kings win.”
With the score tied, Bathe said Buddy wasn’t “happy with the way things (were) going.” But he eventually got some holiday cheer as the Kings managed to edge the Flyers 5-4.
It was the club’s second win in a row after they knocked off the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime Saturday night.
Although Ferrell brings Buddy out from time to time to celebrate the Christmas season, the Saturday Night Live alum has been reluctant to revive the character for a sequel to Elf. Back in 2021, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he turned down a $29 million payday to return for a follow-up.
“I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place, which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money,’” Ferrell said about rejecting an offer to star in Elf 2. “And I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.’”
But in a recent conversation with PEOPLE, Ferrell said it is “really quite special” that the film has endured as a holiday classic.
“I mean, it continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and it continues to kind of entrench itself as kind of a holiday classic for people. I’m so lucky to have a movie like that in my catalogue,” he told the outlet.
Ferrell also said the film has become a staple that audiences enjoy year-round.
“I have people come to me saying, ‘We watch Elf on July 4th. We just love it,’” he said. “So that’s what’s so great about what I get to do,” adds Ferrell. “You never really have an idea of what’s going to land with people, and I love the fact that this movie continues to resonate in a way that’s pretty incredible.”
Elf, which is available to stream on Crave, followed Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf as he hunts for his biological father in New York City.