Josh Gad’s hilarious, slightly insufferable take on William Shakespeare, created for Mel Brooks’s History of the World Part 2, was based on some people he knows — but he’s not naming names. The actor told ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian during an interview that he drew inspiration from some real-world showrunners with a “flair for theatrics” to help shape the charcter, who appears in the new Hulu series. Gad’s anachronistic take on the Bard asks what he might be like if he existed today and ran a TV writers room — something that provides plenty of room for Gad to play.
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The star, best known for his work on franchises like Frozen and Beauty and the Beast for Disney, took some time out for something…a little less family-friendly with a trip into Brooks’s universe. Seemingly, he brought some friends…even if they didn’t know it.
“You know, my Shakespeare was sort of based on some writers that I have known,” Gad admitted. “The whole concept of it was just it’s Shakespeare in a modern day writers room. So there are some people — I won’t mention names — who I sort of based it on, who have…let’s call it a flair for theatrics as showrunners.”
The official synopsis for the series is pretty basic, saying, “There is finally a sequel to the seminal Mel Brooks film, HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART I, with each episode featuring a variety of sketches that take us through different periods of human history.”
Drawing on some of the greatest comedians of the era, Brooks assembled a cast that averaged a little older than the average Hollywood blockbuster, with stars like Sid Caesar, Dom DeLuise, and Henny Youngman, with narration by Orson Welles.
Shecky Greene, Barry Levinson, and Brooks himself are among the only surviving members of the original film’s cast. Greene, who played Marcus Vindictus in the film, was inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in 2020, but has not had an on-screen credit since 2000, excepting some brief appearances in documentaries. Levinson, who had a cameo appearance in History of the World, Part I, is best known not as an actor or comedian, but as a filmmaker. He has produced and directed movies like Rain Man, Wag the Dog, and Good Morning, Vietnam. He is currently working with Hulu on Dopesick, and with Paramount+ on Francis and the Godfather.
Brooks’s other credits include comedy classics like Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles, and Young Frankenstein. Late in his career, his directorial debut — 1967’s The Producers — was adapted into a stage show that became a huge hit on Broadway. Brooks then helped adapt the stage show into a feature film which was directed by Susan Stroman.
