2002–2008: Early career Gad made his film debut in the 2002 film
Mary and Joe. In 2005, Gad made his television debut by guest-starring in an episode of the
NBC medical drama series
ER. The same year, he replaced
Dan Fogler as William Barfée in
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on Broadway after Fogler left the show. Gad went on to star in the
Fox sitcom
Back to You as news director Ryan Church. The sitcom lasted one season from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, Gad had a supporting role in the drama film
21, and a leading role in the comedy film
The Rocker.
2008–2012: The Book of Mormon and minor success on television |207x207pxAfter
Back to You, Gad appeared as a correspondent on
The Daily Show on May 5, 2009, and became a regular correspondent on June 2, 2009. His signature segments include "The War on Christmas", in which he played an oversexed
Benjamin Franklin, and "Chubby Chasers", in which he reported on
Michelle Obama's efforts to curb childhood obesity. Gad made his final appearance as a correspondent on June 27, 2011. Also in 2009, Gad starred in the short-form
Crackle horror comedy series
Woke Up Dead. In 2010, he had a supporting role in the romantic comedy-drama film
Love & Other Drugs. That same year, Gad had a voice role in the family comedy film
Marmaduke. In 2011, Gad voiced Mondo in the
MTV adult animated sitcom
Good Vibes. That same year, Gad portrayed Elder Cunningham in the
Broadway musical
The Book of Mormon. The show opened at the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011. His last performance was June 6, 2012. Gad was nominated for the 2011
Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and won for
Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, along with his co-star
Andrew Rannells. In 2012, Gad had a leading role in the independent film
She Wants Me. Also in 2012, Gad co-created, produced and starred in the
NBC sitcom
1600 Penn. Both
Good Vibes and
1600 Penn were canceled after one season. That same year, Gad voiced the molehog Louis in
Ice Age: Continental Drift.
2013–2019: Frozen franchise and continued success In 2013, he played Andrew in the film
The Internship and starred as
Steve Wozniak in the film
Jobs. The same year, he voiced
Olaf in the Disney film
Frozen, re-collaborating with co-songwriter
Robert Lopez from
The Book of Mormon. In 2014, Gad co-starred in
Zach Braff's film
Wish I Was Here, playing the main character's brother. In 2015, Gad starred in
The Wedding Ringer and starred in
Pixels, a film about video game players who are recruited by the military to fight 1980s-era video game characters who have attack the Earth. That same year, Gad co-starred with
Billy Crystal on the
FX comedy series
The Comedians, which premiered on April 9, 2015. The series was canceled after one season. In 2016, Gad voiced Chuck in
The Angry Birds Movie, based on the
game franchise of the same name. In 2017, Gad voiced the dog Bailey in ''
A Dog's Purpose''. Also that year, he played
LeFou in the
live-action adaptation of Disney's
Beauty and the Beast, directed by
Bill Condon and co-starring with
Emma Watson. Gad also starred in
Reginald Hudlin's biographical drama
Marshall, and
Beauty and the Beast co-star
Dan Stevens, and Gad played Hector MacQueen in a
film adaptation of
Agatha Christie's detective novel
Murder on the Orient Express, directed by and starring
Kenneth Branagh. In 2019, Gad starred in the
Hulu horror-comedy
Little Monsters. He also starred in ''
A Dog's Journey, the sequel to A Dog's Purpose
, reprising his role as Bailey. Also in 2019, Gad reprised his role of Olaf in the sequel Frozen 2 as well as the video game Kingdom Hearts III''.
2020–present: Expanding ventures In 2020, Gad returned to television by starring in two different television series. First, Gad starred in the
HBO science fiction comedy series
Avenue 5. The series premiered on January 19 and was renewed for a second season a month later. Second, Gad created, produced and starred in the
Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series
Central Park. The series received a two-season order from Apple with each season set to consist of thirteen episodes each. The series premiered on May 29. He starred in the science fantasy adventure
Artemis Fowl (2020),
based on the book of the same name by
Eoin Colfer. The film was initially set for a theatrical release but was changed to a streaming release on
Disney+ due to the coronavirus pandemic. In September 2020 Gad joined
Princess Bride Reunion, a virtual live script
read-through of
the 1987 film, in the role of Fezzik, originally played by
André the Giant.
The A.V. Club review singled out his performance as "Josh Gad’s surprisingly moving Andre the Giant tribute... It was an impression in the gentlest, sweetest sense of the word, something remarked on repeatedly by the rest of the cast and host/moderator Patton Oswalt. 10s across the board." During the
COVID-19 pandemic, where people were encouraged to practice
social distancing, Gad launched the
YouTube series
Reunited Apart, which reunites the cast, via
video conferencing, of several popular film and film series including
Back to the Future and
The Lord of the Rings. The series encourages its viewers to support non-profit charities such as Dig Deep, Project Hope and No Kid Hungry. In June, Gad announced that the episode on ''
Ferris Bueller's Day Off would be the last, though the series later returned for a second season, which premiered in December 2020 with the cast of Wayne's World''. In the runup to the 2020 election, Gad joined other Broadway celebrities with the voter education nonprofit
VoteRiders for a virtual party to raise awareness around the complexities of voter ID laws targeting at-risk voters. In the TV series
Wolf Like Me (2022-2023), Gad plays Gary, a widowed father, raising his troubled 11-year-old daughter and the healing journey that ensues when a mysterious woman struggling with lycanthropy enters their lives. He was set to serve as co-creator, co-writer, and executive producer for a
Beauty and the Beast prequel limited series for Disney+, in which he would reprise his role as LeFou as a series regular. However, the series was postponed indefinitely in February 2022 due to creative and scheduling issues. Gad was announced to star as Nick Szalinski in the upcoming film
Shrunk, a legacy-sequel to
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. From September 2023 to January 2024, he starred in
Gutenberg! The Musical! with
Andrew Rannells. The cast recording with the two released on May 3, 2024 digitally and physically on May 17, 2024. Gad will make his debut as director with a
biopic about
Chris Farley with
Paul Walter Hauser playing the lead role. Published by
Dark Horse Comics in June 2024, Gad co-wrote alongside Ben and Max Berkowitz (Berkowitz Bros.) a four-issue comic book mini series, called
The Writer, with interior art by
Ariel Olivetti. The comic book series is inspired by
Jewish folklore. Gad announced that he will be debuting his picture book called
PictureFace Lizzy in fall of 2024. Gad's
Frozen co-star,
Kristen Bell, has been announced to be narrating
PictureFace Lizzy. Gad announced he will be publishing a memoir in 2025 called
In Gad We Trust. He is set to star in
Spaceballs: The New One, which is being produced by himself and
Mel Brooks. In early July 2025, was announced that Gad had joined the regional production of
Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl as King Herod. However he had announced his withdrawal from the production later that month due to a COVID-19 infection, only to return for the final showing. He had a voice cameo as a mole named Paul Moldebrandt in
Zootopia 2, released in 2025. In January 2026, Gad appeared as "a spoofed hyper-famous version of himself" in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series
Wonder Man. ==Personal life==