Will Ferrell has famous brother who you’ll have seen in his films without even knowing

Will Ferrell is one of the most popular comedy actors out there but it's probably only his parents who might have realised that his brother has also appeared in some of his most iconic movies.

The 59-year-old is beloved for his roles in Elf, Anchorman and Stepbrothers to name just a few, and he's certainly an actor most families will see every Christmas time as they sit down for his unusual love story with Zooey Deschanel.

Although James Caan later admitted that he didn't find Ferrell funny at all during the filming of Elf, with Will admitting that he drove his co-star crazy during filming.

He said: “He was like, ‘I’ve got to tell you: I thought everything you were doing while we were filming was way too over the top. Now that I see it in the movie, it’s brilliant.'

“But I love that the whole time, he’s not acting. He’s truly annoyed with me. He’s like, ‘Can this guy shut the f*** up? Jesus.’

“I literally drove him crazy in that movie, just acting like that kid. But that was the funniest thing, him walking out of the theatre and shaking his head and going ‘it’s brilliant’."

You can certainly see the family resemblance (New Line Cinema)

Despite those thoughts, it is widely regarded as one of the best Christmas films out there, and it turns out that the Ferrell parents will have been doubly proud, as their other son Patrick also made a cameo in the film.

Patrick has focused more on the production side of cinema after majoring in film, cinema, and video studios for his undergraduate degree before going on to study cinematography for his master's.

He's unsurprisingly worked alongside his brother on some eye-catching projects but has also made brief appearances as a security guard in Elf and a precinct detective in The Other Guys.

The next time you sit down for the Christmas film and think the security guard who escorts Buddy the Elf out of the Empire State Building looks a little similar, you might just clock that it's actually his younger brother.

In 2009, Will opened up about how his brother developed his love of comedy, with his brother's laugh something that was always guaranteed to set him off.

Will and Patrick Ferrell (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

He said: "I would love watching stuff with my brother because things would tickle him, and it would get me going," Will told the outlet. "I would laugh at watching my brother laugh."

Much like his older brother, Patrick was also a regular on Saturday Night Live in the 1990s and also worked on Anchorman, which suggests that he's clearly a factor when it comes to his older brother's most famous films.

However, his last acting credit came in 2017 and as Will moves into the producing side of things, perhaps we won't see Patrick on our screens again any time soon, unless they finally decide to do a sequel to Elf.

Considering Will's previous comments about the chances of him returning as Buddy the Elf, that sadly seems unlikely at this point, although that might be a relief considering the sheer number of sequels and re-makes that Hollywood is churning out right now.