Josh Gad has shared an amusing, surprising moment from his early career in his memoir, In Gad We Trust. The actor revealed he once auditioned for James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi epic, Avatar. The role he was going for appears to have become Norm Spellman, the Na’vi expert and Jake Sully’s buddy – who went on to be played by Joel David Moore.
At the time, the man who would become the voice of Frozen‘s Olaf was seeking an escape from Broadway’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where he was feeling burnt out. Gad wrote that he “begged the producer, David Stone, to let me go for my own mental health.” While his plea to leave the production was denied, he was given the opportunity to “audition for film and TV and offered to [have] an out if I booked one of those gigs.”
“One of the first things I went out for was a new James Cameron movie called Avatar,” Gad recounted. The role he auditioned for was described as Jake Sully’s best friend and a translator for the alien Na’vi—an integral part of the sci-fi epic.
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His performance impressed Cameron and co. enough to earn a callback. “I put myself on tape and shortly thereafter got a call that Cameron wanted to fly me to Los Angeles for a final callback at his Lightstorm production offices,” Gad revealed. However, things took an unexpected turn when Cameron’s team reviewed his digital test as a Na’vi. “I apparently did not get [the role] because, while James Cameron was said to be thrilled with my audition, when I was turned into a digital Avatar I supposedly looked like a tall, overweight Smurf,” he quipped.
Avatar remains the highest-earning film in history (not adjusted for inflation), topping the all-time box office list with a staggering $US2.9 billion in global earnings. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, currently ranks as the third-highest-grossing film with $US2.3 billion. The third chapter, Avatar: Fire and Ash, will be hitting cinemas this December.
Source: EW
