Josh Gad shares some of the funniest and surprising moments from his early career in his memoir, In Gad We Trust. The actor revealed that he had auditioned for James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi blockbuster Avatar. His desired role appears to have been Norm Spellman, a Na’vi expert and sidekick to Jake Sully, later played by Joel David Moore.
At the time, the man who would become the voice of Olaf in Frozen was feeling burnt out from Broadway’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and was looking for an escape. “I begged producer David Stone to let me resign for the sake of my mental health,” Gadd wrote. His plea to leave the production was denied, but he was “given the opportunity to audition for film and television, and was offered a role if he booked those gigs.”
“The first movie I went to see was the new James Cameron movie called Avatar,” Gadd said. The role he auditioned for was described as Jake Sully’s best friend and interpreter for the alien Na’vi, a staple of sci-fi blockbusters.
His performance impressed Cameron and his colleagues. Enough to get a callback. “I showed myself on tape and shortly afterwards I got a call from Cameron saying he wanted to take me to Los Angeles for a final call to the Lightstorm production office,” Gad revealed. . But when Cameron’s team reviewed his digital test as a Na’vi, things took an unexpected turn. “Director James Cameron was said to have been excited about my audition, but apparently I didn’t get the role because when I transformed into my digital avatar, I looked like a tall, fat Smurf. “Yeah,” he said jokingly.
Avatar remains the highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation), topping the all-time box office list with a staggering $2.9 billion worldwide. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is currently the third-highest grossing film at the box office with $2.3 billion. Chapter 3, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” will be released in theaters this December.
Source: EW
Norm Spellman (played by Joel David Moore) in “Avatar” | 20th Century Studios
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