United Kingdom, Jan. 31 -- Will Ferrell has spoken out after the backlash against his surprise appearance as Buddy the Elf at an NHL game in December.

The unexpected moment, which quickly went viral, saw the 57-year-old actor don his now iconic green Buddy costume from the 2003 holiday hit Elf -but with the twist he wasn't the innocent, cheerfully naive character beloved from the film as he sat scowling, sipping beer and holding a cigarette.

He's now admitted to People about the moment: "Some people were not too happy."

Will added: "They thought, 'Please be true to the character. That was not cool.'"

But the actor explained Buddy was simply having "a bad day", joking the character had decided to attend the Los Angeles Kings vs Philade...