Over the years, many actors have played Santa Claus in various forms.
No matter what your holiday mood is, there’s a Santa Claus for you. There’s a Reluctant Santa (Tim Allen in santa claus), Liar Santa (Billy Bob Thornton) bad santa), Rock ‘n’ Roll Santa (Kurt Russell Christmas Chronicles), Violent Santa Claus (David Harbor night of violence) and the kidnapped sincere, jolly Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) red number one).
In other words, don’t expect every depiction to be inspired by Clement Clark Moore’s famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (often called “‘It was the night before Christmas.”
Read on to see a list of the 20 actors who have played the role.
This story was first published in December 2016 and is updated regularly to include additional content.
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Tim Allen in “The Santa Clause”
Image Credit: Everett
In this 1994 family comedy, Allen plays a divorcee who accidentally kills a Santa Claus impersonator on Christmas Eve and is sent to the North Pole to take over Santa’s duties. At first he suspected it was all just a crazy dream, but after he suddenly gained weight and grew a thick white beard, he began to believe it.
The film later spawned two sequels – 2002’s Santa Claus 2 and 2006 Santa Claus 3: Escape Clause. Allen also reprises his role in the Disney+ series Santa Claus, The show will premiere in November 2022 and launch its second season the following month.
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Ed Asner in “Elf”
Image Credit: Everett
Will Ferrell star focus on abandoned The baby (Buddy) sneaks into Santa’s bag and spends his childhood (and adulthood) at the North Pole, believing himself to be an elf. Asner Playing Santa Claus, who sends Buddy to New York to find his biological father after he learns that he was a human adopted as an infant.
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Paul Giamatti in “Fred Krause”
Image Credit: Everett
Giamatti Star as Saint Nick in this fantasy comedy, which centers on Santa’s relationship with his resentful brother, Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn). When Fred gets into trouble and tries to engineer his brother to lend him $50,000, Nick asks him to travel to the North Pole and make money by helping out during the Christmas rush.
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Billy Bob Thornton in “Bad Santa”
Image Credit: Everett
This 2003 comedy (and its 2016 sequel Bad Santa 2) considers Thornton’s character to be with men Every holiday season, he and his dwarf pals dress up in department stores as Santa Claus and his elf helpers, only to rob the mall when Christmas Eve comes and all the shoppers have gone home.
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Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Jim Carrey in “Dr.”
Image Credit: Everett
A film adapted from the novel of the same name by Dr. Seuss Kerry As the Grinch, resident Whoville He hates Christmas and plots to ruin the holiday for the entire town. While the Grinch isn’t exactly Santa Claus himself, he puts on Santa’s clothes, tries to disguise himself, and steals presents from children while they’re asleep.
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Richard Attenborough in “Miracle on 34th Street”
Image Credit: Everett
One of the many remakes of the holiday classic (originally released in 1947), 1994 A miracle happened 34th street Centered on a man named Chris Kringle (Attenborough), whose insistence that he is the real Santa Claus helped a 6-year-old girl believe in the spirit of Christmas.
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Tom Hanks in “The Polar Express”
Image Credit: Everett
Hanks voices Santa Claus (among many other characters) in the animated series, which tells the story of a skeptical young boy who embarks on a journey of self-discovery when he boards a magical train bound for the North Pole.
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Mickey Rooney in “Here Comes Santa Claus”
Image Credit: Everett
In the stop-motion animated television special, a postman (voiced by Fred) Astaire) responds to children’s letters to Santa by telling Chris’s origin story Kringle and how he became a legend samberton.
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Ben Affleck in “Reindeer Games”
Image Credit: Everett
While Affleck doesn’t necessarily play Santa Claus himself, he dresses up as Saint Nick when his character, a recently released ex-con, gets involved in a plot to rob a casino on Christmas Eve.
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“A Year Without Santa Claus” by John Goodman
Image Credit: Everett
A live-action remake of the 1974 stop-motion animated film NBC’s 2006 TV movie special tells the story of a frustrated Santa Claus (played by Goodman) who is hell-bent on not delivering toys at Christmas, until a little boy helps him regain his holiday spirit.
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Kurt Russell in “The Christmas Chronicles”
Photo credit: Michael Gibson/Netflix/Everett Collection
In this 2018 Netflix comedy, Russell takes on a Santa Claus who crashes his sleigh and loses all his Christmas gifts. He has to collect these items with the help of his two children and deliver them before the deadline. At the premiere, Russell dedicated the film to his father, Bing Russell, “who was, is, and will always be the greatest Santa Claus of all time.”
Russell returns for a second time in the sequel, The Christmas Chronicles 2. The actor sang songs in both films.
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Bill Nighy in “Arthur Christmas”
Image Credit: Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics/Everett Collection
arthur christmas Nye voices the former Santa Claus, who rather dislikes the modern world. He comes out of retirement and reappears to help Arthur (James McAvoy) save Christmas. The 2011 animated film also stars the voices of Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton and Jim Broadbent.
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William Shatner in “Catch Santa Claus”
Image source: Courtesy of Teletoon Canada Inc./Everett Collection
This 2008 TV movie tells the story of a young boy who wants to prove the existence of Santa Claus (Shatner) by capturing him. Meanwhile, Santa’s nemesis Le Freeze (Carl Dodd) wakes up with the same idea.
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Lloyd Bridges in “The Ninth Place”
Photo credit: Courtesy of NBC/Everett Collection
Santa Claus (“The Bridge”) is retiring 300 years later in this 1991 TV movie from director George Miller. He has seven days to find a replacement or holiday traditions will be compromised.
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David Harbour, “A Night of Violence”
Image source: Courtesy of Universal Studios
Harbor plays ‘sledgehammer-wielding Chris Kringle’ hollywood reporter Film critic Angie Han said that in this comedy-thriller, which Han described as a home invasion, home alone meet Die Hard. The drama will be released in December 2022.
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Jack Black in “Dear Santa”
Image source: Paramount Pictures
Black does double duty Dear Santa Claus Like Santa Claus and Satan. When a child writes a letter to Santa, hoping jolly old Saint Nick can help them solve their problem, they accidentally misspell Santa’s name and get an unexpected visit from Satan. The film is available to watch on Paramount+.
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Lil Rel Howery in “Snow Dash”
Photo Credit: Steve Dietl /Disney+/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Break through the snow Howery is seen playing a version of Santa Claus named Nicholas Sinter-Claus. The film is directed by Tim Story and is available to watch on Disney+. The film also stars Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tayona Paris and Oscar Nunez.
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Danny Glover in “Naughty Nine”
Photo credit: Jonathan Wenk/Disney+/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
Glover plays Santa Claus in the Disney Channel movie, which tells the story of a group of mischievous kids who decide to pull off a heist to get the gifts they want. The film is available to watch on Disney+.
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Brian Cox in “That Christmas”
Image source: Courtesy of Everett Collection
Cox to voice Santa Claus in 2024 animated film that christmas. The film opens in limited release in select theaters on November 27th, before streaming on Netflix on December 4th.that christmas It tells a series of intertwined stories about family and friends, love and loneliness, Santa Claus making a big mistake, not to mention an abundance of turkeys!
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JK Simmons in “Red One”
Image Credit: Amazon Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection
Simmons plays a kidnapped Santa Claus awaiting rescue by Callum Drift (played by Dwayne Johnson) and hacker Jack O’Malley (played by Chris Evans). red number one. The film opens in theaters on November 15 and is now available to watch on Prime Video.
