In ‘Beauty And The Beast,’ Josh Gad Plays Disney’s First Openly Gay Character

Image by YouTube

By Talya Zax March 1, 2017

Following the surprise triumph of “Moonlight,” which chronicled the life of a gay black man, at the Academy Awards, there’s a smaller — but still significant — piece of news on LGBTQ representation in film.

When Disney’s much-anticipated live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” hits theaters on March 17th, it will feature the production powerhouse’s first openly gay character.

That character, the villainous Gaston’s sidekick LeFou, will be played by Josh Gad.

In an exclusive for Attitude Magazine, the film’s director Bill Condon revealed that LeFou, in the film, “is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston.” Condon held out on giving spoilers, but shared that LeFou’s subplot would culminate in a “nice, exclusively gay moment.”

Gad, who voiced the beloved snowman Olaf in Disney’s 2013 hit “Frozen,” also originated a lead role in the hit Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.” Starting in 2009, he became a correspondent for Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”, and made appearances on “New Girl,” “ER,” and “Modern Family.” His most recent film appearance was as a voice actor in the controversial “A Dog’s Purpose,” released earlier this year.

While we’ll have to wait to see quite what Gad and Condon have in store — “Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it,” Condon promised — here’s a sneak peek of Gad as LeFou, singing the rousing paean “Gaston.”

Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at zax@forward.com or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.

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