ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Remember Buddy's Little Brother From 'Elf'? Here's What He Looks Like Now

Remember Buddy's Little Brother From 'Elf'? Here's What He Looks Like Now

Daniel Tay, who played Buddy the Elf's brother Michael, was just 12 years old when the film came out in 2003 - and is now a tutor.

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden

The 2003 Christmas comedy Elf has now firmly established itself as one of the most popular Christmas movies of all time, especially for families - but some of its stars are now living completely different lives.

While Will Ferrell's massive role as Buddy the Elf still sees him starring in a film pretty much all the time the kid who played Buddy's little brother Michael has gone down a very different - but equally successful - path.

Credit: Elf / New Line Cinema

The kid who played Michael - former child actor Daniel Tay - was just 11 years old when he played the role, and only 12 when the film came out in November 2003. He's now 26 years old.

Tay carried on acting for a few years before deciding that the movies aren't for him, and abandoned Hollywood to concentrate on a teaching career instead.

After he starred in Elf, Tay dabbled in a few other roles, taking a small part in the 2007 crime drama Brooklyn Rules with Freddie Prinze Jr. and playing the character Bill Blue in the Grand Theft Auto expansion pack The Ballad of Gay Tony.

But that's where Tay's IMDb credits dry up - as he later headed to the prestigious Yale University to gain a BA degree in Economics.

Once he finished studying, Tay became an instructor at Veritas Prep, a consulting company that offers students training to help them pass university entrance tests.

Credit: Veritas Prep

According to the Veritas Prep website, Daniel served as a teaching assistant and peer tutor in Yale's computer science department while studying there. He also received a fellowship for his studies in Mandarin Chinese. Pretty impressive.

"[Daniel] believes that teaching and learning are expressions of the basic human need for mutual understanding," Tay's profile on the Veritas Prep website reads. "With this in mind, he works with students to cultivate relationships based in clarity, humor, structure, and respect.

"When away from SAT/ACT instruction, Daniel is a professional actor and avid writer."

Even though Tay doesn't look to be too active in the acting game any more, his time as Buddy's half-brother Michael definitely lives on as Elf gets rewatched by kids - and big kids - year after year.

There's even a new generation of people playing Michael, as Elf: The Musical now tours its way around the world.

Now that he's an adult, we'd like to hope that Tay enjoys this time of year - and doesn't turn Elf off whenever his family are flicking channels.

Featured Image Credit: Elf / New Line Cinema

Topics: Christmas, Film, Entertainment, TV and Film, Will Ferrell, Elf