Josh Gad Breaks Down Memorable Stories From The Biography With Us Weekly

Josh Gad rips off the Band-Aid in his forthcoming memoir, Let Us Trust: A Tell-Someproves that it is so much more than just a musical Mormon and an animated snowman.

The triple threat sat with Us Weekly only to look back at some of his most memorable stories from the book (out Tuesday, January 14), including his slow rise to fame, which required putting in the work despite hard times and difficulties along the way. Today, however, Gad can say he has officially done it. With this book, he tells personal and professional stories. Confused that he calls it “understanding”? The actor was quick to set the record straight.

“It’s more of a joke. If anything, I say it all and then some,” Gad explained Us. “I looked at the exercise, as I was getting further into it, as if it was therapy in front of a mirror. The more vulnerable I became, the more I allowed myself to follow that path – even though I was hesitant, scared and, perhaps, resistant.”

Gad decided he wanted to “give people a reason to read this book”, which meant being honest.

“That was kind of an obvious decision, but also a profound one for me because I’m not usually an open book — no pun intended,” he explained. “I learned a lot about myself in the process of writing this and talking about all aspects from personal things to career to family things.”

The Frozen seren writes about having a father who was absent for most of his life and explains how that affected his own journey to parenthood. (Gad shares Ava, 13, and Isabella, 10, with his wife Ida Darvish.)

For those more interested in his Hollywood success, he also shares many career anecdotes.

“I enjoyed the hell out of writing (the book), and I hope that everyone who reads it takes something away that is useful and inspired,” he told Us. “At least, I hope they’re having fun.”

Keep scrolling for more Gad:

Live from New York … He Refuses

After he graduated in 2003 from Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Gad decided to give it a try Saturday Night Live. His friend Bryce Dallas Howard recruiting her father, a famous director Ron Howardto open his audition tape — yet Gad was rejected three times.

“I love to fail because it gives me a platform to succeed. Don’t let others force you to give up on yourself. I think persistence is just as important as skill,” said Gad. “I didn’t love him at the time, certainly hated him – but rejection was as important to me and continues to be as important to me as acceptance. Part of it is, ‘F— me? F— you. I’m going to prove you wrong.’”

Lifelong Battle

“I had always been uncomfortable and ashamed of my overweight body,” Gad wrote in the book. By 2007, Hollywood had put him in a “high fat best friend” box when it came to casting, something he worried would continue throughout his career.

“It’s always in the background,” he admitted Us. “I hope that discussing issues like struggles with weight (and) severe anxiety will give people a sense (of) ‘If I can be here and do this and overcome those things but still deal with them, you have this. We’ve got this together.’ I felt strongly that this was something I needed to talk about (in the book), as uncomfortable as it was.”

Befriend Icon

Watching Aladdin at the age of 11 greatly affected Gad. Robin Williams‘ Genie made him want to voice a Disney cartoon character (which he did with Olaf in 2013 Frozen). After Gad met the legend during his run in Book of Mormonthey began a friendship that ended too soon. (Williams die by suicide aged 63 in August 2014.)

“It’s so frustrating because you imagine someone will be around forever. There was so much I wanted to talk to him about. We had been talking less and less. I saw him, I think, the year before he passed,” Gad recalled. “I could tell he was down. He wasn’t his lively self, but I didn’t really know what was going on. I didn’t want to burden him with any conversations, certainly about myself. I feel grateful that he would have had the opportunity to hear me talk about how he inspired me — it’s something I told him personally.”

A Memorable Encounter

Years before Kevin Spacey‘s fall from grace, Gad appeared alongside him in the 2008 film 21. While filming, he wrote, Spacey would “force” him to “impress” over dinners in Boston. (The disgraced actor has faced multiple allegations of sexual assault since 2017, and he has denied it. He was acquitted of nine charges in July 2023.)

“It was such a strange thing,” Gad said Us. “But it also felt like a sign of respect where he was really, I think, tickled by the fact that I could do voices.”

Gad explained that he was not concerned with bringing up Spacey in the book.

“I’m not saying anything uncomfortable,” he continued. “This is my life; these are the people I have come across. Kevin Spacey happens to be one of them, and I have a very interesting story to tell. I’m going to leave the debate to other writers but just tell you, hopefully, an anecdote that will make you go, ‘That’s wild.'”