Recap: Josh Gad Talks CENTRAL PARK, THE BOOK OF MORMON, and More on Backstage LIVE With Richard Ridge

Nothing can stop BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge from bringing you interviews with your favorite Broadway stars! Yesterday, June 17, he chatted with stage and screen favorite Josh Gad!

He talked about Central Park, The Book of Mormon, his Broadway debut in Spelling Bee, and more!

First, Gad recalled what it felt like when he back his Broadway debut in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

"I remember going out and being like 'oh my god, what if I forget how to spell the word and then the entire show will collapse,'" he said. "There was a lot of anxiety. It wasn't an anxiety that was driven by fear, it was an anxiety that was driven by nervous excitement."

Later, Gad talked about his inspiration for creating the new animated series, Central Park.

"There wasn't really a marriage of the musical theatre idea to an animated film," he said. "But I had seen that Loren was playing around the edges of it with Bob's Burgers. And I really was fascinated by what you could do with that if you expended it."

"We set out to do this show where every episode has four songs, and none of the songs are throwaways," he said.

"Not only is it a source of light at a time of great darkness," he said of the show. "But hopefully everyone who watches it will leave wanting to hear the songs again, wanting to sing the songs, wanting to distract themselves with something just meant to feel good and give you a big smile."

Watch the full interview here!

Gad currently stars in Disney's "Artemis Fowl" opposite Judi Dench for director Kenneth Branagh releasing on Disney+. He can also be heard in Apple's animated musical comedy "Central Park" which tells the story of how a family of caretakers, who live and work in Central Park, end up saving the park. He stars opposite Leslie Odom Jr, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci and Daveed Diggs. He created the show alongside Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith.

He recently reprised his role as Olaf for Disney's "Frozen 2" which is the highest grossing animated movie in history. In 2019, he starred in Neon's "Little Monsters" opposite Lupita Nyong'o which premiered at Sundance. His recent films also include Universal's "A Dog's Journey," Sony's "The Angry Birds Movie 2," Open Road's "Marshall," Fox's "Murder on the Orient Express" and Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." In early 2020, Gad starred in HBO's "Avenue 5" from creator Armando Iannucci.

Additional film credits include starring alongside Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage in Sony's "Pixels," starring opposite Kevin Hart in "The Wedding Ringer," Zach Braff's indie project, "Wish I Was Here," starring as the loveable sidekick 'Olaf' in Disney's award-winning animated film, "Frozen," "Angry Birds," the Steve Job's biopic, "Jobs;" "Thanks for Sharing" with Gwyneth Paltrow, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Robbins; Shawn Levy's "The Internship," opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson; Ed Zwick's "Love & Other Drugs," with Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway and Hank Azaria; Shawn Levy's "The Rocker," alongside Rainn Wilson; "21," opposite Kate Bosworth, Lawrence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey; and "Crossing Over," with Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd. Other voice credits include "Ice Age: Continental Drift," alongside Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez and John Leguizamo.

In 2015, Gad starred alongside Billy Crystal in the FX show "The Comedians" about a veteran comedian who is reluctantly paired with a younger, edgier comedian for a late-night comedy sketch show. In 2012, Gad served as an executive producer, co-creator and star on NBC's family comedy "1600 Penn." He played Skip Gilchrist, the clumsy eldest son of the President (Bill Pullman), whose sincere attempts to do the right thing often go awry. Gad has also lent his voice to 'Woodie' on MTV's animated series "Good Vibes" and played the title role on BBC Worldwide's "Gigi: Almost American." He has guest-starred on hit series such as "New Girl" and "Modern Family."

Gad also took Broadway by storm starring as Elder Cunningham in the Tony Award-winning comedy musical "Book of Mormon." Gad was nominated for Tony, Drama League and Astaire awards, winning the Outer Critics Circle Award. He made his Broadway debut in a Tony-winning production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."