Josh Gad Says He Missed Out on “Avatar” Role Because CGI Version of Him Looked Like 'a Tall, Overweight Smurf'

Josh Gad is sharing why he never took a trip to Pandora.

In Gad's new memoir In Gad We Trust, the actor recalled that he auditioned for James Cameron's first Avatar movie in the mid-2000s while he was in the middle of his debut Broadway run in the musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Gad, 43, said he auditioned for Avatar after striking an agreement with the musical's producer that he could leave the production if he booked a job with a film or television series.

The actor wrote that he auditioned to portray the character Norm Spellman in Avatar. Joel David Moore eventually won the part, which saw him play a human scientist with a Na'vi avatar alongside Sam Worthington's Jake Sully.

"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 (a role I apparently did not get 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 wrote in his memoir.

Related: Josh Gad Gives Update on Spaceballs 2, Which Is 'Very Much a Sequel' to 1987 Original: 'The Wait Is Gonna Be Worth It'

Gad eventually went on to find fame on Broadway in The Book of Mormon and on the big screen in movies like 21 and as the voice of the snowman Olaf in Disney's Frozen movies. Moore, 47, reprised his role as Norm in 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water and is expected to appear in Avatar: Fire and Ash, which releases in December, as well as the fourth and fifth Avatar movies, which will release in the coming years.

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13 years passed between when filmmaker Cameron released 2009's Avatar and when The Way of Water opened in theaters. Both films rank among the highest-grossing movies ever made. Cameron, 70, recently told Empire Magazine that he intends to continue making "brave choices" with the forthcoming third Avatar movie that audiences may not expect. 

Related: Josh Gad Recalls 'Hell and Fury' Response to His Character's 'Exclusively Gay Moment' in Beauty and the Beast

“It’s a tricky thing,” Cameron said. “We could be getting high on our own supply here, and everybody who looks at it [the new film] goes, ‘F—, that’s not what I signed up for.’ But if you’re not making brave choices, you’re wasting everybody’s time and money. That alone is not sufficient to create success, but it’s necessary. You’ve got to break the mold every fricking time.”

Gad, meanwhile, most recently appeared in the television series Wolf Like Me and as the voice of a dog in the 2023 comedy Strays. He is currently working with Mel Brooks on a sequel to Brooks' 1987 comedy classic Spaceballs.

In Gad We Trust is available now wherever books are sold.

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