Why Josh Gad Regrets Using His Voice for Frozen’s Olaf

Josh Gad Tells Who’s Worth Melting For

Josh Gad wishes he could let this go. 

While he is widely regarded for his acting both on stage and on screen, Josh is well aware that he is most known as the voice of snowman Olaf in the Disney’s 2013 cartoon Frozen and its 2019 sequel Frozen II. But looking back on his famous role, there is one thing that he wishes he could change.

“If I could do it all over again,” Josh told the crowd during a recent appearance at Fan Expo Canada, as seen in footage posted to TikTok Sept. 12, “I would not have lent that snowman my voice. I would have created a different voice.”

The issue, he explained, is that his voice is far too recognizable as that of the summer-loving snowman.

“It’s very weird being in a supermarket and having a little child go like this,” he said, while demonstrating a slow head turn. “That was my first big mistake.”

However, the 43-year-old is thankful that people appreciate the warm hug his unique provides, adding, “I try to give it to them when I can.”

Josh has been open about his unmistakable connection to Olaf in the past. In fact, his daughters Ava, 13, and Isabella, 10—who he shares with wife Ida Darvish—would often ask him to refrain from using his Olaf voice during story time when they were younger.

NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP via Getty Images

“They’re saying, ‘Read as daddy,’ and they’re like, ‘Not as Olaf,'” Josh told Stephen Colbert in 2017, “and I’m like, ‘I don’t decipher between the two.'”

As he jokingly noted, “Nobody wants to be me, not in my household. It’s sad.”

And his famous voice has gotten him plenty of looks when he’s around town with his kids, which has led to some less than ideal fan encounters.

Walt Disney Studios/Kobal/Shutterstock

“There was an incident recently where I was trying to tell my daughter not to do something because it was unsafe,” he explained to People in 2019, “having this moment of pure unadulterated parenting, and a kid comes up to me and is like, ‘Is Olaf mad at his daughter?'”

Recounting how the child was “so confused” at the time, Josh continued, “There were so many layers to pull back and understand.”

“‘Why do you have this guy’s voice?’; ‘Does Olaf have children?’; ‘Or are you pretending?'” he added of the questions kids have for him when they discover his onscreen alter ego. “But yeah, I get recognized by my voice all too often.”

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