Josh Gad says the late Robin Williams used to make him "laugh and cry every night" when they were living in the same apartment building.
The ‘Frozen 2’ star could once call the late icon – who tragically took his own life in 2014 at the age of 63 – his neighbour when they both lived in an apartment building in New York City whilst they were appearing in separate Broadway shows.
And Josh has now looked back on his time knowing the ‘Jumanji’ actor, as he said the star always had an "anecdote" about the day that would be equal parts hilarious and emotional.
Josh said: "Robin Williams lived in my apartment building at the time I was doing ‘[The Book of] Mormon’ and he was doing ‘Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo’. And we would come home from work and Robin would just literally make me laugh and cry every night with an anecdote about the show and the day."
Robin moved out of the building before Josh, and the 38-year-old actor says Robin tried to give Josh his bicycle before he left, but Josh didn’t take it – something which he now regrets.
He added: "When he left, he left me his bike and I didn’t accept it. I was like, ‘Robin, look at my body. You’re wasting a bicycle on me. I’m going to stare at it. I’m never going to do anything.’ And it really is one of the great regrets of my life, that I didn’t keep that bicycle from Robin Williams."
And it wasn’t just Robin that Josh bumped into whilst appearing in ‘The Book of Mormon’ either, as he also recalled having to perform in front of stars including Oprah Winfrey and U2 frontman Bono.
Speaking during an upcoming interview for ‘Sunday Today’, he said: "I got distracted when Oprah was in the audience. I got distracted when Bono was in the audience, because I actually put on a pair of Bono sunglasses in ‘Book of Mormon’ and sing that one part in ‘I am Africa, just like Bono!’ And I remember being like, ‘Oh, God. I have to sing as Bono to Bono. This is surreal.’"
Josh Gad recalls fond memories of Robin Williams
