Josh Gad Calls This 2011 Comedy “The Single Worst Movie” He’s Ever Made

Actor, comedian, and Grammy Award-winning Broadway star Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon, Frozen) is opening up about his life and career in a new memoir titled In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some. Published just last week on January 14 (H/T Entertainment Weekly), the book includes candid revelations from Gad, including the movie he considers “the single worst movie” he’s ever made: The 2011 comedy Mardi Gras: Spring Break. The Spaceballs 2 co-writer and star added he hoped he’d never make another movie like it “in my life.” The comedy followed the actor’s more successful romance dramedy project Love & Other Drugs, also starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Gad shared that he 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,” but “nonstop studio interference” turned the “experience of making the film” into a “waking nightmare.”

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Gad explained they would “literally have scenes written by the studio head sent for us to do the next day.” Mardi Gras: Spring Break was ruined for him, and apparently, the others involved: “Nothing made sense and, worse, it was all big, broad, meaningful comedy in which none of the creative team had any say.”

Beyond the difficulties in shooting the film, Gad began to worry about becoming typecast if he continued to take on roles similar to his character Bump in Mardi Gras: Spring Break: “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,” Gad added. “I knew I needed to branch out and attempt to have people see me in a new and unexpected way.”

Directed by Phil Dornfeld, Mardi Gras: Spring Break follows three college best friends, Mike (Nicholas D’Agosto), Bump (Gad), and Scottie (Bret Harrison), who head to the annual Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans with Mike’s girlfriend Erica (Danneel Ackles) tagging along. The road trip comedy also stars Arielle Kebbel and Carmen Electra.

Mardi Gras: Spring Break is available to stream for free on Tubi.