Ryan Reynolds always has fun promoting his movies, and this time, Will Ferrell joined in. The two actors, who will co-star in the upcoming Christmas-themed musical Spirited, appeared on talk shows on each other’s behalf. While Reynolds popped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where Ferrell was originally booked, the Anchorman star showed up at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he filled in for Reynolds.

Both segments unfolded like parallel bits, with Reynolds joking that he had “just put the kids to bed” and was “walking the dog” when Ferrell called and said that he was running a little late, and if Reynolds could “jump in for him.” He joked, “I am just as disgusted as you are with these plastic, playboy Hollywood prima donnas that think they can have a talk show appearance and just not show up.”

Over on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ferrell put on a show for the crowd. He said, as he took his seat next to the host:

“Ryan couldn’t make it. I got a text from him saying that he’s running late, which usually means that he’s not going to show up. So he asked if I would fill in, and I just rolled down the hill, because I live near the Magic Castle. I live at the Magic Castle. I’ve always kept a suite of rooms there.”

ryan-reynolds-will-ferrell-spirited
Image via Ryan Reynolds/Instagram

RELATED: Watch Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds Sing a Duet of 'Grace Kelly' Worthy of Fire Saga While on Set of 'Spirited'

Ferrell then proceeded to perform a bogus magic trick for Kimmel, where he asked him a couple of random questions and pulled out a watch from his pocket. “Is this your watch?” he asked, not sounding very convinced. It was not. Ferrell pulled out another. That wasn’t it either. It happened one more time, before Kimmel told him he doesn’t even wear a watch.

Like a good substitute guest, Ferrell then plugged Reynolds’ new film Red Notice. He admitted, however, that he hadn’t seen a second of it. But what a cast! “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Gal Gadot, hubba hubba,” he said, adding that the movie is sure to be “classy” because the billboards showed the lead cast wearing tuxedos.

Now fully committed to the bit, Ferrell took a stab at introducing a clip: “This is the one where they’re talking to each other?”

After they came back, Kimmel joked that since he had no idea he’d be talking to Ferrell, he didn’t have any questions for him. But could he ask him the questions he’d put together for Reynolds? Ferrell said that they might as well go on, considering he had nothing better to do. But the actor was stumped by Kimmel’s first query: “How is your beautiful wife Blake Lively?” Too late to turn back now, Ferrell soldiered on, and spoke highly of not just Lively, but also their “three girls.”

The segment ended exactly how you’d expect it to, with Ferrell rapping gibberish in fake French. But this switcheroo wasn’t entirely random. In addition to participating in what was essentially a very far-sighted piece of promotion for Spirited, Ferrell will star in the new Apple TV+ series The Shrink Next Door, which releases on the same day as Netflix’s Red Notice—November 12.

You can watch both interviews here: