Josh Gad has revealed that Jake Gyllenhaal warned him against accepting a role in The Book of Mormon because it was too controversial.
The divisive musical comedy, from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries who are sent to Uganda to spread the word of Joseph Smith.
Gad, who was shooting Ed Zwick’s 2010 romcom Love & Other Drugsalongside Gyllenhaal after his first Book of Mormon workshop, asked the Oscar nominee for his opinion on the show’s music.
In his memoir In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some, the star recalled: “One day as Jake and I were driving home from set in Pittsburgh, I asked him if I could play a demo of a new musical that I had recently done a workshop for in New York, hoping to get his advice as to whether or not I should pursue it further.
“He said, ‘Yeah, pop it on,’ and I played the opening number,” Gad wrote, per Variety.
The actor explained that although his co-star had “laughed his ass off” at the musical’s wholesome opening number “Hello!”, his verdict changed as the tracks became progressively more outrageous.
“I skipped to another track on the album and his face slowly went from joyful enthusiasm to abject fear and terror,” the Frozen star explained.
“He stopped the car and said, ‘Dude, you cannot do whatever this is. This will be way too controversial. Who the hell wrote this anyway?’ I paused the music and looked over at him. ‘The ‘South Park’ guys.’”
Although Gyllenhaal advised Gad against being involved in The Book of Mormon, he played the role of Elder Cunningham on Broadway for 15 months anyway.
In 2011, Gad was nominated for a Tony Award for lead actor for his performance, losing out to Norbert Leo Butz as Carl Hanratty in Catch Me If You Can.
Elsewhere in his memoir, Gad squashed claims his character in the 2017 live-action film Beauty and the Beast, LeFou, was intended to be Disney’s “first-ever gay character”.
“I can’t quite imagine a Pride celebration in honour of the ‘cinematic watershed moment’ involving a quasi-villainous Disney sidekick dancing with a man for half a second. I mean, if I were gay, I’m sure I’d be pissed,,” he wrote.
Gad also revealed that LeFou’s sexuality was “never once discussed” with the movie’s creative team and described the infamous dancing scene as “harmless and “a fun blink-and-you’ll-miss-it little beat.”
He wrote: “It was both too little and not enough to be anything more than it was”.
