In 2009's ultra-hit-hit-hit-ultra-hit Avatar. Joel David Moore plays Dr. Norm Spellman, an anthropologist who travels to the distant moon of Pandora to study its native inhabitants, the Navi, as well as the planet's diverse flora and fauna. Dr. Spellman is evil and possesses a light sense of humor, making him a good friend to his fellow humans, but a poor match for the more strict Na'vi locals. He, like several of the human characters in Avatar, has his consciousness in the body of a Naive/human clone so that he can breathe air and traverse terrain more comfortably. Moore handles the role well and, despite his limited screen time, imbues Dr. Spellman with a very likable humanity.

It appears that Cameron auditioned at least one other notable comedian for the role, as Josh Gad was apparently a finalist to play Dr. Spinman. In 2009, Gad still hadn't broken through to mainstream audiences. At the time, he was best known for his style on The Daily Show, a recurring role in the Broadway show The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and the short-lived 2007 Fox sitcom Back to You. That changed when Gadd took the world by storm in 2011 with his performance in the Broadway musical smash The Book of Mormon, followed by his role as The popular alarm of Olaf the snowman in Disney's animated blockbuster "Frozen" Two years later.

However, while he was still on the rise, GAD auditioned for Dr. Spellman, and even found himself in the audition process for Cameron to make a CGI Na'vi Avatar out of him. Unfortunately, As Gad told in an interview with Entertainment Weeklyhe was cast for the role when his Navi came back from the lab. It seems his face and body weren't a good match for Cameron's alien designs.

Making the Avatar movies, as most readers may know, is a multi-year process. Cameron reportedly began jotting down ideas for Avatar as early as 1994, when the director was working on his action/comedy True Lies. He was inspired (obviously) by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Specifically, the stories of the author "John Carter") and H. Ryder Haggard wanted to make his own anti-colonial science fiction adventure story. Production began in earnest in 2005, with casting taking place in 2006 and 2007.

It appears that part of the reworked screen tests involved the actors being scanned into Cameron's computers and recreated as Navies. Because Avatar is a mostly animated film, it was vital that Cameron be able to mutate his human actors into chain-linking, nine-foot-tall, blue-skinned alien creatures with big eyes, pointed noses and tails. Gad, it seems, was funny enough to be considered for the part of Dr. Norm Spielman, but he wasn't a good match for Navi's body. Gad described his audition as follows:

"I put myself on tape and shortly thereafter got a call that Cameron wanted to fly me to Los Angeles for a final callback at his Lightstorm production offices. (...) (It was) a role I apparently did not get because, while James Cameron is said to have been delighted with my audition, when I was transformed into a digital avatar, supposedly looking like a tall, overweight smurf."

Lightstorm is, of course, Cameron's production company.

It remains a sad truth of most Hollywood productions that actors are usually cast because of the way they look, not just talent. Gad may have played his human character well, but Cameron, wanting his aliens to look very specific, seemingly cast actors based on their facial structures.

Regardless. Gad became a superstar without an 'avatar', and still starred in some of the highest-grossing films of all time. He won.