Josh Gad may be known for voicing Olaf in the 2013 Disney Animation movie Frozen and playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in The Book of Mormon Broadway musical. However, all great actors have movies they probably wish they could forget. In the case of Gad, he recalls one of his earlier films as the “single worst” movie he’s ever made with the experience being “a waking nightmare.”
In Josh Gad’s memoir In Gad We Trust (via EW), the American actor spoke about getting back to work after his wedding to actress Ida Darvish in 2008. Following the success of his role in the Anne Hathaway rom-com Love & Other Drugs, Gad was ready for his next project to be just as triumphant. Unfortunately, his career went in an unexpected direction when he starred as Bump in the buddy comedy Mardi Gras: Spring Break, with The Wedding Ringer actor calling it the "single worst" movie and “a waking nightmare” to film:
I had the time of my life shooting in New Orleans with folks like the magnificent Regina Hall and our ferociously funny writer (and now lifelong friend) Josh Heald. … [The] experience of making the film was a waking nightmare, with nonstop studio interference where we would literally have scenes written by the studio head sent for us to do the next day.
I can imagine how frustrating that must be to get sent pages from the studio head while filming. Talk about being thrown unexpected curveballs. Josh Gad continued to express that “nothing made sense,” with Sony Studios taking over the project leaving the creative team with no say in direction.
Mardi Gras: Spring Break follows the plot of three college friends who head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, only for their guy time to come to a halt when one friend’s girlfriend decides to tag along. The movie is filled with raunchy escapades and slapstick humor that you’d normally find in an R-rated comedy that deserves its R-rating. But based on Gad’s claims, the road trip movie didn’t hit the mark with himself or the creative team behind it.
The 2011 raunchy comedy was critically panned on Rotten Tomatoes, with critic Brent Simon from Shockya calling it “an unsubtle and roundly unfunny stinker.” With not enough critics reviews to generate a Tomatometer score, audiences gave it a 23%, with many calling it “unfunny” and formulaic to a lot of college comedy buddy movies that have been released. However, Josh Gad had more pressing concerns making this panned movie:
What was worse, however, is that I began to grow really concerned that I was going down a path of playing the loud fat best friend in every project I was doing. While it was certainly starting to pay me more money than I had ever seen before, I was worried that I was getting into a situation of being typecast. Any dreams I had of following in the footsteps of Philip Seymour Hoffman or John Goodman were soon going to be dashed if I stayed on this path. I knew I needed to branch out and attempt to have people see me in a new and unexpected way.
I completely understand the fear of not wanting your career to be defined by one flop. Fortunately, following Mardi Gras: Spring Break, casting director Allison Jones landed Josh Gad his next big break as a correspondent on The Daily Show. The award-winning actor continued to branch out in Broadway, voice acting, television and film roles. He’ll even bring his acting and screenwriting chops to Spaceballs 2, and his love of the original Mel Brooks comedy will come to great use for the new project.
Mardis Gras: Spring Break may be what Josh Gad calls the “single worst” movie he’s worked on, but the buddy comedy in no way, shape, or form was a career-ender for the Florida native. In fact, it was a brief career snag that he rose above to become the prominent performer he’s known as today. Make sure to look at our 2025 movie releases in case Gad’s future projects turn up there.