Josh Gad

His father was born in Afghanistan, to an Afghan Jewish family. His mother, who was raised in New York, is of Ashkenazi Jewish background, from a family of Holocaust survivors.

[on abandoning a boyhood dream of becoming a performer and emulating actors like Robin Williams] I was about three years out of college and I called my mom up and said, 'I don't think I want to do this anymore'. She started crying. I said, 'I'm going to go to law school'. I thought she was going to celebrate that she wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. But she was really disappointed. And I said, 'Why are you disappointed?' She said, 'Because you've been dreaming about this for fifteen years , but you are only allowing yourself to live out your dream for three years, and I think that is unfair to yourself'. It was very startling to hear her say that.