Video: Josh Gad Praises Leslie Odom, Jr.’s Aaron Burr Performance in HAMILTON
Odom will perform his Tony Award winning role in the musical through November 26.
By: Josh Sharpe Sep. 11, 2025
During a recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Josh Gad had nothing but positive things to say about Leslie Odom, Jr., who recently returned to his role as Aaron Burr in Broadway's Hamilton through November 26.
The two performers were classmates together at Carnegie Mellon, and Gad visited the hit musical for a seventh time this past week to watch Odom in the show. "I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that it is top 10 performances ever in a Broadway musical," said Gad. "Leslie as Aaron Burr is like Yul Brynner [in] King and I."
Odom originated the role of Aaron Burr in Hamilton’s Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, earning a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical and a Grammy Award as a principal soloist on the Original Broadway Cast Recording. Hamilton celebrated its tenth anniversary on Broadway this summer, on August 6, 2025.
During the interview, Gad also spoke about the genesis of Spaceballs 2, the long-awaited sequel that he is producing and starring in. "I dreamt up the entire movie that we're about to start shooting in two weeks. And I called Mel Brooks...and after I pitched him, he said, 'Josh, I've been waiting 35 years for this phone call," Gad recalled. Check out the full interview now, where he also talks about his new film Adulthood and recalls the first readings of The Book of Mormon.
Gad originated the role of Elder Cunningham in Broadway’s The Book of Mormon, alongside Andrew Rannells. The pair reunited on Broadway in 2023 for Gutenberg! The Musical! On screen, Gad starred in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express, Hulu’s horror-comedy series Little Monsters, and is the voice of Olaf in Disney’s Frozen and Frozen 2. He is currently working on the Spaceballs sequel, in which he is starring, producing, and co-writing, and has also joined the voice cast for the animated musical Oh, the Places You'll Go.
