Bernard the Elf from The Santa Clause appears in Oppenheimer and it’s leaving people shook.
There’s nothing like an actor who was a child in one of your favorite Christmas movies cropping up in a recent release to make you feel even more ancient than your aching back, sore neck and eye-bags already make you seem.
Despite Oppenheimer being released into cinemas earlier this year in July, viewers are still reeling after realising David Krumholtz – who played Bernard the Ef in 1994 release The Santa Clause – features in the movie.
Prepare to be ‘gobsmacked’:
Krumholtz appeared in The Santa Clause at the age of 16-years-old, with his character of Bernard the Elf being a firm favorite of viewers – so much so, the actor told TIME the internet reaction was ‘so violent’ they had to make sure he return for the sequel.
In the interview, the 10 Things I Hate About You star also noted The Santa Clause is the film for which he’s ‘recognized for most’.
However, the 45-year-old can now add another movie to his most-recognized list – with Oppenheimer viewers having flooded to social media to identify him as playing the role of physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi – friend of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy).
A TikToker named Hannah Louise – who goes by the username @hdzialowski – took to the platform earlier this year to share her surprise once she realised that Krumholtz makes an appearance in Oppenheimer.
The caption of her post reads: “From Santa’s helper to American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1944.”
In another video – clearly still not over the realisation – she adds: “The way I could not concentrate on Oppenheimer when I realized… Bernard has made a career change and I’m here for it.”
And other TikTokers have flocked to the post in equal shock. One user wrote: “Omg this is where I recognise him from.”
“I FVCKING KNEW IT,” another added.
And a third commented: “I’m in shock.”
Fans of the actor have similarly taken to X – formerly known as Twitter – to weigh in on the spot.
A user wrote: “Oh shoot I didn’t know that!”
“It’s a hell of a performance too,” a second noted.
And a third commented: “Yeah haha I noticed that in the theater! I mentioned it to a few others after it ended and we were all gobsmacked.”
However, a fourth said they were ‘shocked how many people didn’t know this’, adding: “Dude’s a national treasure and grew up in the same building in Queens as my gf.”