Santa is usually for the kids, but one local Saint Nick is also entertaining adults this holiday season in a big way.
Rosy cheeks, joyful grins, pure happiness - kids love Santa! There are movies, memories and special life moments all about him.
Playing him is such an honor for Phil Pierce. He's now a full time Santa in Pigeon Forge, but this is a new found profession.
"Every winter I would grow a beard," Pierce said.
Phil is a writer and spends a lot of time in coffee shops.
"I'm sitting there writing and I look up and there's this kid staring at me and I said, 'Hey buddy!' He says, 'What are you doing here?' And I didn't catch on at first. I said, 'I'm just doing a little bit of work.' And then one by one kids at different times would come up and say, 'I've been really good this year.'" he recalled.
Ding!!! It hit him! Phil wanted to play Santa. He got an agent and started putting his work out for all to see.
This local Santa is now also entertaining mom and dad. He auditioned for the part of Mall Santa in A Bad Moms Christmas and he got the part!
He said the whole experience was a trip.
"You walk on to the set and there's these very recognizable actresses that I get to do the scene with and they were all great! We just had such a great time doing the scene," Pierce said.
Those three actresses he's referring to are Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn. They filmed the scene at midnight at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.
"This whole thing is like a bucket list thing for me to be able to do this. So to see that and have all this happen, be on the poster, be on the trailer, now the TV commercials are airing and people are saying, "I saw your commercial!" Pierce said.
Phil loved doing the movie, but bringing joy to kids is what means most to him.
"Last year when they had the fires in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge a lot of kids were saying dont worry about me, I want to make sure that those kids have something for Christmas. What better job than to be there to make people happy?" Pierce said.
The movie is out in theaters now.