Zoey Deschanel has paid tribute to her late co-star Ed Asner, who she appeared alongside in festive favourite Elf.

Asner passed away on Sunday (August 21) of natural causes at the age of 91. Alongside his role as Santa in Elf, Asner, he also appeared in JFK, They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, Hard Rain, and notably voiced grouchy Carl Fredricksen in Pixar’s Up.

Deschanel took to Instagram to pay her respects to former friend.

“Rest In Peace my favorite Santa Claus,” she wrote alongside a photo of Alsner in costume. “You will be so missed.”

Deschanel is the latest celebrity to pay their respects to Alsner.

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore took to Twitter to comment on the actor’s kidness.

Making my 1st film, Roger & Me, I was broke so I wrote to some famous people to ask for help,” Moore wrote. “Only one responded: Ed Asner. ‘I don’t know you, kid, but here’s 500 bucks’ said the note attached to the check. ‘Sounds like it’ll be a great film. I was an autoworker once.’ R.I.P. Ed”

Making my 1st film, Roger & Me, I was broke so I wrote to some famous people to ask for help. Only one responded: Ed Asner. “I don’t know you, kid, but here’s 500 bucks” said the note attached to the check. “Sounds like it’ll be a great film. I was an autoworker once.” R.I.P. Ed pic.twitter.com/AuGCNlyNnC

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) August 29, 2021

Halloween director and horror legend John Carpenter tweeted: “Ed Asner was a talented actor and a very nice man. He always had a twinkle in his eye. Rest In Peace, Ed.”

Deschanel is currently turned to presenting. In 2020, former New Girl actor Jake Johnson has hinted that the show may return.

“When we were going away, Fox was being pretty cool and saying like, ‘We don’t want to cancel you, but nobody’s watching,’” he told Slate’s Thirst Aid Kit podcast

“So when we did our final season…Zooey Deschanel and I literally wrote an email to the heads [of the Network] asking for more, for the…fans who stayed with us.”