Josh Gad opens up about anxiety, 'Frozen' and new children's book 'PictureFace Lizzy'

NEW YORK - Josh Gad has worn many hats: voiceover actor, Broadway performer, “Daily Show” correspondent and even reunion-producer extraordinaire.

But his latest project, a children’s book called “PictureFace Lizzy,” brings him a new role.

“By writing the book from the perspective of a girl who is in between the ages of my own daughters, I was weirdly able to put myself in their shoes and understand the effect of hearing ‘No’ and pushing back and saying, ‘But what if?’” Gad, 43, tells USA TODAY. “Growing up in the 80’s when we had bicycles to entertain us and early 8-bit Nintendo and not much else, it was imagination or bust.”

The book - 32 pp, Random House - was released earlier this month.

In the book, a girl named Eve wants the hottest new doll, “PictureFace Lizzy.” She eventually convinces her parents to buy it for her, and then learns a lesson about material desires. For Gad, who has two daughters with wife Ida Darvish, the story hit close to home as both a parent and an 80’s kid.

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“It's very interesting to me that a show like ‘Stranger Things’ is so appealing to that (younger) demographic because I think that in a way they romanticize and long for an analog world that doesn't exist,” he says. “I think that they inherently know that this is stressful and I think they wish that they had less of (technology) and more of just an opportunity to sit in a room and play pretend. And so I hope that this book inspires that.”

Gad previews upcoming memoir

When the world shut down in 2020, the actor “spent way too much time with myself.” The byproduct included his YouTube series “Reunited Apart” which brought together casts from his favorite childhood movies, this new children’s book and his upcoming memoir, “In Gad We Trust,” out in January.

“I describe it as therapy in front of a mirror,” he says. “The amount of surprises that I discovered about myself during that process was really fascinating.”

Gad’s interest in long-form writing can be traced back over a decade ago, when he was a columnist for USA TODAY. For his memoir, Gad read his journals, spoke with loved ones and “kind of put to bed some things that I maybe had never grappled with.”

“Anxiety has been something that I've dealt with my whole life and I'm very open about it,” he says. “The divorce of my parents when I was about five years old is the reason that I am now doing what I do. But it was a very difficult transition in my life. So there isn't much that I hold back, if anything, because I feel like if you're going to do this, then you got to rip the bandaid off.”

'Frozen' out of a big announcement

John Leguizamo recently broke some news about “Ice Age 6,” confirming on a podcast that the movie was in development. He later told USA TODAY that he received a cease-and-desist after the story came out.

Gad, who has voiced characters for both “Ice Age” and “Frozen,” has not received such paperwork.

“Not only did I not get a cease-and-desist," he says. "I didn't even get a heads up that ‘Frozen’ 3 and 4 were happening until after they announced it publicly,” he reveals. “I wish I had been tipped off. They knew not to bother because I would pull a ‘Leguizamo.’ "

Details about the upcoming “Frozen” films were revealed at D23, the Disney fan event in August.

“From what I understand it's going to be pretty incredible, pretty epic, and I think an incredible continuation of a beloved story at this point.”