Frozen star Josh Gad has revealed he auditioned for a role in James Cameron’s first Avatar film but was turned down because his Na’vi form looked like a “tall, overweight smurf.”
As reported by Variety, Gad said in his In Gad We Trust memoir that he was asked by Cameron himself to fly to Los Angeles to audition for the role of Jake Sully’s best friend and translator to the Na’vi. This role was seemingly picked up by Joel David Moore, who played Norm Spellman in the 2009 film.
“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 said in his book.
“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.”
Gad has still enjoyed the success of another of the most successful film franchises of all time, at least, as he stars as Olaf in Frozen and its sequels and spin-offs. He also appeared as LeFou in Beauty and the Beast, Muncher in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and in many more films.
Avatar, meanwhile, just released its sequel in 2022 in The Way of Water. Cameron isn’t stopping there though, with a third film called Avatar: Fire and Ash due out on December 19 this year.
Photo by Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Add comment