American pop star Nick Jonas has revealed that he once auditioned for the role of Kristoff in Disney’s animated blockbuster Frozen, but admitted that he was unprepared and ended up “bombing” the audition.
Nick shared the anecdote during a conversation with Frozen stars Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and Idina Menzel on his Hey Jonas Podcast. In a video posted on Instagram, the singer and actor recalled his unsuccessful audition for the character, who was ultimately voiced by Jonathan Groff.
“I auditioned for Frozen. I went in for Kristoff. They asked me, ‘What are you going to be singing today?’ I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’” Nick recalled.
He said the casting team was surprised when he told them that he had not brought sheet music because nobody had informed him that he needed it.
“I said, ‘No, no one told me I had (to bring it).’ So I just said, ‘Can you play something from…’ I don’t know what I said, some musical theatre song, and I bombed the audition. It was terrible,” he said.
The cast members jokingly responded that his poor audition must have been the reason he did not get the role.
Nick, however, playfully argued that he might have been a better choice while also praising Groff.
“I love Jonathan Groff, but I do think it would have been better to cast me. Like, this feels real. This feels authentic,” he said, adding that his family are “massive fans” of the franchise.
Released in 2013, Frozen was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s 1844 fairy tale The Snow Queen. Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, the film featured the voices of Bell, Menzel, Groff, Gad and Santino Fontana.
The story follows Anna, the princess of Arendelle, who sets out with Kristoff, his reindeer Sven and snowman Olaf to find her estranged sister Elsa after Elsa’s powers plunge their kingdom into an eternal winter.
The film became a global phenomenon and spawned a major franchise, including the short film Frozen Fever, the featurette Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and the sequel Frozen 2. Frozen 3 is also in development.