Josh Gad almost landed a role in the 2009 sci-fi epic “Avatar,” but he didn’t quite have the physical archetype James Cameron was looking for.
In his new memoir, “In Gad We Trust,” the “Frozen” actor recalls that while he was desperate for a reprieve after starring in “The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee” on Broadway, he went audition for other television and film roles. . And “one of the first things” he tried was a “new James Cameron movie called ‘Avatar’.”
“I recorded myself on tape and shortly after received a call that Cameron wanted to take me to Los Angeles for a final callback at his Lightstorm production offices,” he said . Had he been cast, Gad would have played “the role of Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) best friend and translator to the alien race known as the Na’vi.”
Gad continued: “I apparently didn’t get (the role) because, although James Cameron said he was delighted with my audition, when I was transformed into a digital avatar, I supposedly looked like Papa Smurf in overweight.”
The role appears to have been taken over by Joel David Moore, who plays Norm Spellman in “Avatar,” a close confidant of Jake Sully and an expert in the Na’vi language.
“Avatar,” released on December 18, 2009, became the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing $2.9 billion worldwide to date. The sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” currently sits in third place with a lifetime gross of $2.3 billion.
At the D23 Expo 2024, Cameron revealed the title of the third “Avatar” film: “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” The trio is scheduled to be released on December 19, 2025.
