Josh Gad is well known for his role as Olaf in the beloved Disney film Frozenbut he almost landed a role in an even more beloved animated classic.
Recount his eventful experience in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on Broadway in 2006, Gad notes in his new memoir We trust Gad (published January 14) that he “begged the producer, David Stone, to let me go for my own sanity, but he told me that wasn’t an option. He did, however, agree to let me audition for a film. and television and offered to give me a release if I booked one of these concerts.
“One of the first things I came out for was a new James Cameron movie called Avatar“, continues Gad. But things did not go as planned.
Gad says he auditioned “to play the role of Jake’s best friend Sully and translator for the alien race known as the Na’vi.”
Sully, played by Sam Worthington, is the main star of Avatarmeaning Gad’s character would have likely gotten a lot of screen time. Gad had not yet found that “big break” he was looking for at the time, his most important roles being that of William Barfée in Putnamwhere he had replaced Dan Fogler, who won a Tony for his performance and a starring role in the Fox sitcom Back to you.
Avatar would have brought Gad to the forefront in the eyes of the movie-loving public, so he went for it. “I recorded myself on tape and shortly after I got a call that Cameron wanted to take me to Los Angeles for a final callback at his Lightstorm production offices,” he said. explain.
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Gad describes the potential role in Avatar as “a role I apparently didn’t get because, while James Cameron was reportedly delighted with my audition, when I was transformed into a digital avatar, I supposedly looked like an overweight Papa Smurf.”
Representatives for Cameron did not respond to Weekly Entertainmentrequest for comment.
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The character as described resembles Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore), who befriends Jake on Pandora and speaks English and Na’vi. But neither Gad nor Cameron have confirmed whether Gad’s role played out as planned by another actor, or whether he was ultimately removed from the working script. Avatar.
But even if Gad had won the role, he might not have even been allowed to participate in the film. As he explains, during a casting evening for Putnam Celia Keenan-Bolger, the series’ director, James Lapine, “sat down next to me and told me he heard I was going to miss a show to audition for the movie. I thanked me for letting me out for a day. He said he told the producers not to let me out, but they did it anyway.”
Gad continued: “Trying once again to appease his ego, I said, ‘Well, just to be clear, I plan to finish my race anyway,’ to which he replied: ‘What makes you think we would even want you back?’ ?’ I finally lost it. “Then fire me, James. But whatever it is, I’m done with it.”
Avatar eventually released in 2009, the same year Gad finally got his big break after being hired as a correspondent for The daily show. A notable role in Ed Zwick’s film Love and other drugs followed, and his starring role in Broadway’s The Book of Mormon turned him into a star.