Josh Gad Leaps From Broadway to This Week’s “Modern Family”

Josh Gad

While Josh Gad has been around for awhile in television and movies, it took a little musical about Mormons to launch his career into the stratosphere. Of course, that little musical is The Book Of Mormon, the huge Broadway success from Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez which won multiple Tony Awards this summer including Best Musical. Gad received a Best Leading Actor in a Musical nomination for his role as Elder Arnold Cunningham and while he continues to perform eight shows a week on the Great White Way, he found time to do a guest spot this week on ABC’s gay-friendly sitcom, Modern Family.

In tonight’s Modern Family episode, Gad (r, with Nolan Gould, l and Ty Burrell, c)
is a former neighbor who returns a billionaire.

Gad jumped on the phone with AfterElton.com late last week and the actor, who is straight, talked his Modern Family gig, the life-changing success of Mormon and his feelings about marriage equality.

AfterElton.com: How did the Modern Family gig come about?
Josh Gad: It has been in the planning for awhile because of my history with Steve Levitan and Chris Lloyd, who obviously are the creators of the show, since we worked on the sitcom Back To You a few years ago on Fox. It was kind of that moment when the stars aligned and we could have it happen. Of course, Ty Burrell was also one of the stars of that show, so it was amazing to play with him again after a few years.

AE: And your character is entwined with Ty’s character, Phil, right?
JG: Yes, it’s completely entwined with the Dunphy family. Kenneth, my character, is somebody who used to live in the neighborhood who everybody thought was going to go nowhere and be a deadbeat and he wound up becoming this billionaire. He comes to visit the Dunphys and bestows the knowledge onto Phil that he never realized that he idolized Phil, and he used him as a benchmark to achieve all his success.

While Phil (Burrell) is usually trying to get praise, Kenneth (Gad) had plenty to give.

AE: I love that since Phil is always put upon and constantly tries to get the approval of everyone. It’s great that your character gives him that.
JG: Exactly, so it’s really nice that the character can say ‘Phil, you taught me life lessons.’

AE: I know you’re busy with Book Of Mormon but have you been able to be a fan of Modern Family?
JG: Oh yeah. I think it’s one of the best, if not the best, comedy of the last decade so I’m so honored to have a history with these guys and the writers and become a part of the family. I adore the show, and I hope it’s something that I get to do in the future again. I had a blast even though it was kind of insane because I had to fly in that morning and fly out late that afternoon because of my commitment to Book Of Mormon, but it was well worth it.

Gad (right) in his Tony-nominated role of Elder Arnold Cunningham
(with Rema Webb, l, and Andrew Rannells, center) in The Book Of Mormon.

AE: Safe to say that the door left open so you can return to the show again?
JG: I think so. I think it’s safe to say. I had a blast and hopefully it ends up being as much fun onscreen as it was to shoot.