Funnyman Vince Vaughn pretended to believe in Santa into his late-teens - for fear of missing out on Christmas presents.

The Wedding Crashers star, 37, who plays Santa's brother Fred in new film Fred Claus, remembers the sad day neighbours told him the friendly present-giver wasn't real.

He says, "They go, 'You know there's not a Santa Claus, right?' - and, of course, covering in front of them I was like, 'Well, yeah. Of course there's not a Santa Claus, guys.'

"I was the youngest. They (my brother and sister) said, 'Don't tell mom and dad, because then we may not get gifts anymore.'

"I was like 16 going, 'Dad, when is Santa coming down the chimney?' My dad was like, 'Look it's getting weird, you are getting older, you know there's not a Santa, right?'"