Yahoo Lifestyle “You Cannot Do Whatever This Is”: Josh Gad Said Jake Gyllenhaal Was Horrified By “The Book Of Mormon” And Warned Him It Was “Too Controversial”
Though he’s perhaps best known for playing Olaf the snowman in Disney’s Frozen movies today, the role that gave Josh Gad his big break in 2011 was far from family-friendly.
In case you didn’t know, Josh’s star-making role was in the original Broadway production of The Book of Mormon, playing Elder Cunningham.
The nine-time Tony-award-winning musical follows two missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — Elder Price and Elder Cunningham — who travel to a remote Ugandan village to preach their religion.
It was written by Robert Lopez, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone. Trey and Matt are also the creators of South Park, the animated sitcom.
Even if you’ve not seen The Book of Mormon, you’ll probably know it’s very controversial due to its offensive language and themes. And when Josh was first approached for one of the lead roles, the musical’s shocking nature was definitely a concern.
Having previously admitted that he nearly turned the part down because of how controversial it was, Josh reveals in his newly published memoir — In Gad We Trust — that Jake Gyllenhaal also had concerns about him being a part of the production.
For context, in 2010, Josh played a small role in the movie Love & Other Drugs, which starred Jake and Anne Hathaway. In his book, he recalls that he and Jake developed a friendship while shooting the film, which led him to seek his advice about a potential stage project.
“One day as Jake and I were driving home from set in Pittsburgh, I asked him if I could play a demo of a new musical that I had recently done a workshop for in New York, hoping to get his advice as to whether or not I should pursue it further,” Josh writes.
Josh began by playing Jake the musical’s opening number, “Hello,” which wowed his costar and left him “laughing his ass off.” However, this particular song is pretty tame compared to the rest of the musical, so things quickly took a turn as the songs played on.
“I skipped to another track on the album and his face slowly went from joyful enthusiasm to abject fear and terror,” Josh writes as he recounts Jake’s horrified reaction.
“He stopped the car and said, ‘Dude, you cannot do whatever this is. This will be way too controversial. Who the hell wrote this anyway?’ I paused the music and looked over at him. ‘The South Park guys,’” he remembers.
In spite of this, Josh obviously went on to accept the role in the musical, which premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in March 2011. The show was an immediate success, and Josh even earned a Tony nomination during his 15-month stint as Elder Cunningham.
And for what it’s worth, it sounds like Josh’s initial reaction wasn’t all that different from Jake’s. Around the time The Book Of Mormon premiered, Josh told Entertainment Weekly that he was so shocked by a demo recording of one of the show’s controversial numbers that he nearly declined to be involved at all.
“I called my agent and said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’” he recalled. “I have no ties to religion, per se, and I’m not afraid of pushing the envelope, but this seems really intense. Hearing the song out of context, I was like, ‘What the hell are we doing here?’”
However, he said that it was the South Park link that encouraged him to seriously consider being a part of the project, saying: “Matt and Trey have made a career of pushing the envelope. They’re so brilliant at satire. I knew that the people involved were good enough that I had to be a part of the show.”
Josh’s memoir, In Gad We Trust, is now available to purchase.
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