Empire Australia - 08.2019

COMING SOON

FROZEN 2

(2019)

Gad returns

to voice

loveable

snowman

Olaf in this

much-

anticipated

sequel to the

billion-dollar

Disney

cartoon.

CENTRAL

PARK

(2020)

This new

animation

from the

Bob’s

Burgersteam

sees Gad

lead

a family of

Manhattan

caretakers.

ARTEMIS

FOWL

(2020)

In this sci-fi

adaptation of

the YA novel,

Gad plays

Mulch

Diggums,

a dwarf

thief with

explosive

flatulence.

What was your role in your first-ever

school play?

My first big play that I can remember was

sophomore year of high school. I played Tevye

inFiddler On The Roof. Let me tell you, there is

nobody more capable of understanding a father

of six, in mid-life crisis, dealing with pogroms,

than a 15-year-old. I was quite ahead of my time.

Have you ever written fan mail to anyone?

I wrote a fan letter to Robin Williams, and to Billy

Crystal, who would end up my co-star many years

later. I heard back from Robin Williams’ assistant;

never heard back from Billy. I should give him shit

for it, actually. The really funny story about fan

mail is my grandfather. He was in the Holocaust

and he did an interview for [Steven Spielberg’s]

Shoah Foundation. When I was getting started, he

decided to write a letter to Steven Spielberg telling

him why his grandson should be given work in one

of his movies. He began the letter, “Dear Stevie”.

It was very direct — I did this for you, so now you

need to make my grandson the star of one of your

movies. That has not happened! But I really

respect my grandfather for calling one of the great

directors “Stevie”.

Who is the most famous person that you could text

right now?

My favourite number is Judi Dench. She is saved

as “Judi Dench” and then, in parentheses,

“Dame”. She embroidered me a pillow. It says:

“Josh ‘You’re Standing Too Close’ Gad”.

What’s the best thing you’ve ever stolen from

a movie set?

I tried to steal my wig fromBeauty And The

Beastjust because I was in love with that thing

and just wanted to walk around town with it.

But they said that that was a non-starter.

How much is a carton of milk?

I don’t drink milk. I want to say around $4. How

far off am I? [Empiretells him it’s about $1.20]

You don’t shop at Whole Foods, do you?

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever thrown up?

Oh God, a couple of months back I went out

and drank far too many vodka sodas. I got

home and threw up on my lawn. The next

morning I downed one of those breakfast

sandwiches from Starbucks in my car, driving

to a meeting that I called on the Disney lot.

Somebody honked at me. I shit you not:

I looked over, they recognised me, I immediately

got sick. I threw up into the Starbucks bag.

The bag exploded all over me and my steering

wheel. At which point I had to go through

security on the Disney lot trying desperately

to cover myself up.

When did you last clean your bathroom?

Actually, yesterday. I’m shooting a series right

now in London and staying at a hotel. I was in

my tub... all of a sudden, my entire ceiling

started pouring water. I got out of the tub... and

started throwing towels on the floor desperately

trying to make sure that my room didn’t become

the third act of Noah. I cleaned it up and then

realised, “Oh, there are people who would help

me in this place called a hotel.”

On a scale of one to 10, how hairy is

your arse?

I would say a two. I’ve been complimented on

the fact that I do not have a hairy ass. My little

brother’s got the hairiest backside I’ve ever

seen, to the point that I’m wondering if my

parents adopted a gorilla and taught it English.

But I was given a very lovely, albeit pale, ass.

What’s the one thing that you do better than

anyone else you know?

I do a mean click with my tongue. [Demonstrates

an impressively sharp snap] I haven’t met many

people who can do that.

Have you ever knowingly broken the law?

The worst thing I ever did was I stole a bunch of

Star Warsfigures from my best friend’s brother.

Then my mom gave them away. To this day, every

time I see him, I feel such enormous guilt. I’m

like, “I still owe you a lot of money for those

Star Wars toys.”HELEN O’HARA

ANGRY BIRDS 2IS IN CINEMAS FROM 12 SEPTEMBER

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