The elf who fell off the shelf: Buddy actor who sued Elf the Musical for £1.7m after tumbling off 8ft ladder and breaking his ankle during 2018 performance ‘wins payout’

• Ben Forster, 42, had been playing Will Ferrell’s character from the 2003 film

An Elf the Musical actor who sued for £1.7 million after falling from an 8 foot ladder and breaking his ankle has reportedly accepted a major payout.

Ben Forster, 42, was playing Will Ferrell’s character Buddy from the 2003 film when he alleges elves spun him while he was decorating a Christmas tree and performing a song.

The star then fell from the wheeled ladder at The Lowry Theatre, in Salford, Manchester during the show’s run there in January 2018, sustaining the injury. 

His lawyer David White, told the High Court last year that it meant he could no longer ‘return to physical demands of being a leading West End theatrical performer’.

According to The Sun, Mr Forster has now agreed a confidential settlement with Elf The Musical (UK) Ltd.

Ben Forster as Buddy, Kimberley Walsh as Jovie ‘Elf the Musical’ at the Dominion Theatre, London in 2015

Forster, 42, was playing the character Buddy from the 2003 film when he alleges elves spun him while he was decorating a Christmas tree and performing a song. (Pictured performing in 2015)

Producers of the musical denied liability and told the newspaper that there was a risk assessment before each show. 

Mr Forster reportedly claimed he was then not able to do things normally seen in a musical, such as dancing, running up stairs, lifting another actor or acting around moving scenery. 

He could, however, still stand and sing after breaking his ankle. 

In a 2015 production, former Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh starred alongside Ben Forster as Buddy in the West End show, Elf: The Musical. 

Mr Forster won ITV’s Superstar in 2012 and as the winner played Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. 

Will Ferrell’s Elf movie was a hit in 2003 and was later made into a musical by Elf The Musical (UK)

He has also had roles in the Phantom of the Opera and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Mr Forster, played Buddy since the UK première in 2014 in Plymouth, but did not finish another run on Elf when he fell on 6 January 2018. 

Will Ferrell’s Elf movie was a hit in 2003 and was later made into a musical by the company and others. 

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