David Krumholtz Reveals He Saved “Santa Clause 2” Set — Including 150 Kids — From a Fire: 'I Should Have Gotten Money'

The actor told Entertainment Weekly that lighting equipment caught fire during filming, which was a situation he helped deescalate

David Krumholtz helped the North Pole stay frozen when a fire broke out on the set of 2002's The Santa Clause 2.

The 45-year-old actor, who played Santa's right-hand man Bernard the Elf in the first two films, opened up to Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday about how he stopped a fire from spreading on the set of the holiday blockbuster.

As Krumholtz explained, the blaze took place on the two-story set of the film's North Pole Toy Workshop, where there were "literally 150 kids on this set at that moment."

“The crew is setting up the next shot. And I happen to catch out of the corner of my eye a bunch of little kids, like 7-year-olds, gathering around smoke on the second level," he told the outlet. "And I'm like, ‘What the f--- is going on up there?’ And they're just looking at it like, ‘Whoa,’ and pointing to it.”

Related: The Santa Clause Cast: Where Are They Now?

Krumholtz added that he deescalated the situation by handling it calmly and trying not to startle the child actors. “Instead of freaking out, because I could have just went, ‘Hey!’ — I just slowly walked up there,” he said.

“I walked up the steps to the second level and approached, and part of the lighting equipment was on fire," the Oppenheimer actor added, noting that "one of the gels in the light had overheated" leading to a fire. "So I got the kids away and I slowly, calmly just walked down and said, ‘The set’s on fire. There's a fire. It's not just smoke, there's a fire.’ "

During the next day of filming, producers left a bottle of champagne for Krumholtz in his trailer, along with the note, "Thank you for saving us all."

“I wasn't drinking at the time, so it did me no good. Did I feel like I deserved more? Do I feel like I deserve more 20 years later? Yeah, I mean I should have gotten money,” he joked. “You know what I mean? Substantial money.”

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Krumholtz returned to his role as Bernard for the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses in 2022. During the appearance, which he told Time that "the fans made happen," the actor could be seen sharing screen time with Tim Allen once again.

As he told the outlet, his character of Bernard was "safe, loving, kind and, I guess, kind of cute," and getting back in character meant he had to get "over myself a little bit."

"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," he said. "I wish I could be Bernard in a way."

Krumholtz added that he and the original film's star "didn't miss a step" when it came to reuniting.

"The first time I was on set, I kind of played a prank on Tim," he said. "I just sat in a chair with my sunglasses and KN95 mask on with my hood over my head looking kind of scary. Tim walked in and just looked at me like the Grim Reaper had arrived. Then I revealed myself and he couldn’t have been happier to see me. Tim is an incredibly funny human being, and he always has been, that’s never changed. I was just happy to be back laughing as hard as I did around him."

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