Hollywood is the kind of place that takes what you do well in one thing and manufactures it so the joy can be taken out of it.

Josh Gad

Categorized in : Joy Taken Hollywood

I don't know if I'd call myself a prodigy, but I was a big forensics competitor in high school, and then during college I spent some time working at speech and debate camps as a coach.

speech college school

I'm unfortunately very verbose too often. by Josh Gad

I'm unfortunately very verbose too often.

I think that once we get to that point where our generation is running things, I truly believe we'll look back at this time and question why we were ever so complacent withholding something as universal as the freedom of equality and marrying someone that you love.

running believe thinking

I was being flirted with for 'Modern Family,' which my wife still hasn't let me live down, but it's one of those things where that show is so brilliant because the casting couldn't be any more perfect. It wouldn't have been right for me, and I wouldn't have been right for it.

modern-family wife perfect

Part of our goal, in the episodes moving forward, is to deepen and dimensionalize every other character, to get into their relationships with each other, expand that stuff and really sink our teeth in.

goal character moving

I certainly never imagined 80-year-olds singing along, like they were watching Cats. I'm fascinated by that kind of pop cultural zeitgeist that it's attached itself to.

singing cat years

I love polarizing people. by Josh Gad

I love polarizing people.

polarizing people

I do have a dirty sense of humor. by Josh Gad

I do have a dirty sense of humor.

sense-of-humor dirty

There was a 10- and 8-year difference between us, so my brothers were into tormenting me and I was into getting away from them.

differences brother years

We use improv in all kinds of fun ways. Sometimes it's to invent or discover new things, sometimes it's to weird out the other actors, and sometimes it's to create a sense of fun, to find new things inside the scripted lines.

actors use fun

I think physical comedy is an amazing asset because it tells a story that's more universal than just language and dialogue. I grew up watching Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. They're very powerful figures in my life.

powerful stories thinking

When I left college, I was out of work for three years. I had this dream of being on 'SNL,' and that was all I could imagine.

college dream years

How do you top 'Mormon?' I get sent scripts all the time and I don't know what I would do next. What do you do after that? So I think if you do see me onstage, you'll see me in something dramatic, maybe, or you'll see me try my hand at something else. Perhaps fail, terribly, but try.

trying hands thinking

One of my top 10 favorite movies of all time was South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Team America is a work of genius to me.

top-10 team america

[ 1600 Penn] is an ensemble comedy about a family. It just happens to utilize the fact that my character is now being forced into this world as a jumping off point. But, in no way is it the crux of the series. It's simply an introduction to the world.

jumping character way

I feel like Jim Carrey is probably the closest thing to a true physical comedian that we have working today.

comedian feels today

Josh Gad and I have been friends since the time he auditioned for Modern Family. I directed the pilot for that, and that's how we met.

mets modern-family pilots

Josh [Gad] does such an amazing job playing a lovable idiot. Not many people can do that, as convincingly as he can.

doe jobs people

I met Jon Lovett, who was just coming off of three years of being a presidential speech writer and had just arrived here to be a comedy writer in Hollywood. I thought he was super green, in terms of this world, but he knows so much about the world that we're attempting to write about.

presidential writing years

Josh [Gad] is such an amazing improviser and is so good when the material is flowing from him that sometimes, if a written scene isn't working quite right, I'll tell him that we've got it and that he can just play. He'll blow us away with some super weird stuff and some wild things that we might use bits and pieces of in the edit, and then I'll say, "Just for good measure, let's do one more of the scripted version."

might-use blow play