10 Hilariously Obvious Stand-Ins Who Ruined Their Scenes

Peter Dinklage hasn’t gotten where he is without a sense of humour, and the actor has proved time and again that he’s happy to take on roles which address his short stature either for comedic or dramatic effect. Just look at the poignant moment when he calls out bad dad Tywin Lannister during his trial as Tyrion on HBO megahit Game of Thrones, resulting in a moving monologue about being on trial for his entire life for the crime of being a dwarf.

As such, the actor was happy to play irascible children’s author Miles Finch for 2003’s classic Christmas comedy Elf, where his role basically amounts to getting steadily angrier at Will Ferrell’s titular innocent abroad Buddy, before beating the living s*** out of him.

It’s a hilarious sequence and one of the fondest remembered moments from director Jon Favreau’s flick. However, upon re-watching the scene, you might notice a pretty glaring mistake.

Yes, the stand-in who thumps Ferrell into a painting isn’t particularly tall. But they’re also very clearly not a little person, unlike Dinklage, and the sudden change in proportions makes for a surreal shot mid-scene where Finch seems to have body-surfed into another person.