Josh Gad claims he was rejected from Avatar role for being ‘overweight’
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Josh Gad has revealed he missed out on the million-dollar opportunity to be in Avatar due to looking like ‘a tall, overweight Smurf’ in character. The Beauty and the Beast actor revealed the anecdote in his new memoir, In Gad We Trust, published January 14.
![[INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 23: Josh Gad attends the LA Clippers NBA Season Opener at Intuit Dome on October 23, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for LA Clippers)]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236822310-65fc.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Gad said that he missed out on a key role in the highest-grossing movie of all time due to his physique not matching what director James Cameron had in mind for the Na’vi people. The 43-year-old reminisced about the incident in his memoir, recalling the excitement of his callback: ‘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.’.
However, after getting suited up to play Jake Sully’s best friend and translator, he did not digitalise as well as Cameron imagined. ‘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.’.
![[Josh Gad Visits Disneyland]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-493355499.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=452)
Sam Worthington’s character Jake Sully is the main character in the sci-fi phenomenon, meaning it would have been an enormous part for Gad to snag. The role was eventually given to actor Joel David Moore, who plays Norm Spellman in Avatar, a close confidant to Jake Sully and an expert on the Na’vi language, who was likely a renamed version of the character Gad auditioned for.
