What Bernard From The Santa Clause Looks Like Now

David Krumholtz is one of the many Christmas movie child stars you won't recognize today. If you look at the prolific actor closely, you may spot a twinge of the mischief that he had in his eyes while portraying Bernard in "The Santa Clause." Other than that, though, Krumholtz is completely unrecognizable. And that's probably for the best because the former child star has mixed feelings about his beloved character. When the elf came up during a December 2023 appearance on the "Inside of You" podcast, Krumholtz couldn't help visibly cringing. While confirming that he enjoyed working on the beloved Christmas flick and had nothing but love for its loyal fans, the actor still found the concept of gaining notoriety for playing an elf to be pretty humiliating. 

However, the "Addams Family Values" star took a kinder perspective on Bernard when he spoke to TIME in December 2022, sharing, "For the longest time, my ego wouldn't allow me to be associated with the character. I'll admit I resented [The Santa Clause] for a good portion of my 20s and 30s, but only having recently had children myself, I thought, there's something sort of worth emulating about Bernard." Krumholtz also acknowledged that he wished he had the witty and grumpy elf's moral compass. 

While the actor grew to admire Bernard after a rewatch with his own kids, unfortunately, they developed an entirely different opinion. As Krumholtz revealed on "Inside of You," his little ones found the character totally "creepy," and he really had no means to argue with that observation. Despite all his grapples, though, the "10 Things I Hate About You" star still reprised the fan-favorite role for the 2022 Disney+ series "The Santa Clauses."

When people find themselves wondering what happened to the cast of "The Santa Clause" franchise, they likely don't imagine that one of them had enough range to secure scene-stealing roles in everything from "Superbad" to "Oppenheimer." Such was the case for David Krumholtz. And yet, during a March 2024 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the former child star all but refused to give himself a pat on the back for his portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer's friend and Manhattan Project scientist, Isidor Rabi, in the Oscar-winning biopic. Instead, the actor chalked up his phenomenal performance to iconic director and co-screenwriter Christopher Nolan's terrific writing, and only gave himself the tiniest bit of credit for delivering an understated portrayal of the real-life character. 

Part of that humility can be chalked up to the simple but life-changing advice Michael J. Fox gave him when they appeared in "Life with Mikey" together, back in 1993. Speaking on the "Hey Dude... The 90s Called!" podcast in July 2025, Krumholtz confessed that he was woefully unprofessional and even rather bratty during the early days of his career. However, all of that changed when the "Back to the Future" star told him: "You're great. Just be nice. Just be super duper nice. If you're just nice, you're going to work all the time." Krumholtz not only kept that pearl of wisdom close as he continued building his profile in Hollywood, but also bestowed it upon other up-and-coming actors. So, while the "10 Things I Hate About You" cast-member looks very different today, he's still the same person at heart.