Chris "Ludacris" Bridges in Fred Claus Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Chris "Ludacris" Bridges may not be the first name on your list of potential Santa's workshop elves, being primarily known as a rap artist and, of course, being of average human height. But thanks to the magic of digital technology, Ludacris finds himself knee-deep in toys, snow, and trouble in Fred Claus.

How did you snag the role of the North Pole's tiniest DJ?
Man, I would have to say that David Dobkin and Joel Silver came to me. I guess they know my background because in Atlanta, Georgia, I actually used to be an on-air personality and DJ. So I was reliving my DJ days. They wanted me to read the script. I read it. It was laugh-out-loud funny. It was even better to see the whole movie. I'm just glad this is my first family movie–comedy of all the things that I've done. I'm blessed to be in this film with all these great and wonderful individuals and cast members.

What tunes would you play to rock the North Pole if you had your choice?
You know, it's funny you say that because if you watch the whole movie, at the ending credits, I actually made a remix to Here Comes Santa Claus. That is the tune I would rock out to. [Silver] specifically asked me to make my own version, a Ludacris version of Here Comes Santa Claus, which plays off my character playing Here Comes Santa Claus over and over again.

What about being vertically challenged? How did you work out that stuff with you and Vince Vaughn?
I shot my scenes in front of a green screen. Being vertically challenged, the whole thing was to get the neck movements and body movements to all correspond with one another. I was actually on a green screen looking at a screen trying to mimic the movements so once it all came out, it looks real.

What did you do with the improvisation in the film since you had to do your stuff all on green screen?
Most of it was to mimic the body language of the little person. As far as the improv, I just put my own element into it — being the hip elf in the North Pole. I did a lot of different takes, and they kind of just chose what they wanted to choose.