“A tall, overweight Smurf”: when James Cameron rejected Josh Gad for ‘Avatar’
In 2009, James Cameron released the movie he hoped would end up defining his legacy – Avatar. The story of a disabled soldier from Earth who finds acceptance amongst the Na’vi people on the planet Pandora, Avatar might not have been everyone’s cup of tea story-wise, but its groundbreaking special effects and use of 3D technology made it a must-see, even for people who had previously expressed zero interest in science fiction.
When all was said and done, Cameron ended up dethroning himself as the director of the new highest-grossing movie of all time. He did lose out on an Oscar to his ex-wife, but he probably doesn’t appreciate that being mentioned too often.
In addition to its stunning visuals, Avatar also boasted a star-studded cast. Zoe Saldaña plays Neytiri, the headstrong daughter of the tribe’s leaders, while Sigourney Weaver reunited with her former Aliens director to play Dr Grace Augustine, a scientist working on the Pandora project. Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang, CCH Pounder, and Giovani Ribisi filled out various other roles in both live-action and voice capacities. There’s also the case of Sam Worthington, the lead performer who became a star off the back of the film’s success… for about five minutes.
Those names could have been joined by Josh Gad, the actor best known for providing the voice of Olaf the Snowman in Disney’s Frozen franchise. In his autobiography, the actor revealed that he “put myself on tape and shortly thereafter got a call that [James] Cameron wanted to fly me to Los Angeles for a final callback at his Lightstorm production offices.” The role he went up for was that of Sully’s (Worthington’s) best friend, Norm Spellman, who would have also served as a Na’vi translator. Unfortunately, he wasn’t cast for a very specific reason.
“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 continued. The character eventually ended up being played by Joel David Moore in the final release. The two have very different body types, and, on this occasion, Moore’s was the one Cameron wanted.
It seems silly that an actor’s physical appearance prevented them from playing a digitally rendered character, but all of the Na’vi actors also provided their own motion capture. Cameron and his team developed multiple new filming techniques in order to accurately represent their actors’ likeness, including a tiny camera designed to fit inside a head-mounted microphone. It took over a year to develop all of the equipment needed to achieve the desired result.
While Gad’s body type might have cost him this role, it’s hard to imagine him in the part that launched his career – Elder Cunningham in the stage musical The Book of Mormon – if he looked any different. He might have missed out on the highest-grossing movie of all time, but through his work on both Frozen movies and the live-action Beauty and the Beast from 2017, he has three of his own entries on that particular list.
Also, with Avatar: Fire and Ash and at least two more sequels on the way, there’s still every chance that Gad could eventually join the franchise. Cameron almost certainly owes him one for that less-than-flattering description.
