Josh Gad’s memoir, In Gad We Trust, was released earlier this week, and it’s definitely going into the hall of fame for celebrity autobiography title puns (which is a totally real thing that I didn’t just make up).
While Josh is, of course, known for his work originating the role of Elder Cunningham in the Broadway smash hit The Book Of Mormon, he’s arguably most recognized for voicing everyone’s favorite snowman in Frozen.
It’s no secret that Olaf has resonated with kids since he waddled onto our screens. However, in the interview Josh revealed that he nearly wasn’t involved in the Frozen whirlwind at all.
“I only found out recently from Jennifer Lee that the character was almost cut from the film,” Josh stated.
Referring to the early development process of Frozen, Josh told ET, “I had done a reading of it years before called Anna and the Snow Queen.”
“At the time, I played this Olaf character — he was like a henchman to the evil queen,” Josh revealed.
Thankfully, evil Olaf was scrapped. Although I would have loved to hear Josh’s take on it.
“So I did this reading, forgot all about it,” he said. “Cut to two years later, I get a call that this movie’s back and it’s called Frozen now, and the only thing that really remains is this Olaf character,” he concluded.
So it looks like, in the end, everything else about Anna and the Snow Queen got scrapped and Olaf survived. And based on the sequel, threequel, and fourth movie coming out (four-quel?) it looks like Jennifer Lee and Disney made the right choice.
Josh also shared that his daughter, Ava, recognized him instantly in a Frozen preview when she was little — from his laugh alone.
“Just off my laugh, she goes, ‘Da-da? More Da-da?’ and I start weeping,” Josh shared emphatically. “I was like, ‘You know me!’”
Ugh, too adorable. Can you believe there’s gonna be four Frozen movies? My money’s on Disney doing at least eleven — like Fast and Furious. LMK your thoughts below.
