“Everyone keeps saying, ‘Everyone knows Will Ferrell doing Buddy,’ and I’m not interested in that. There’s enough difference in the way they’ve adapted it that the expectation is not that he’s the same Buddy. It’s the same story, and he has the same outlook on the world, but I’m not doing any kind of imitation at all. … I really like the character because he’s not stupid, he’s not slow, he just takes things at face value and has existed in different circumstances."
— Ethan Paulini, who plays the part of Buddy the Elf in Arkansas Repertory Theatre's production of Elf the musical. Read more interview outtakes on our arts and entertainment blog, Off The Record.