Zachary Levi Wants Shazam! to Succeed

Zachary Levi is best known for playing the lovable geeky unlikely hero Chuck Bartowski on the spy comedy TV series ‘Chuck,’ but he’s also taken on the role of an actual superhero in DC’s new movie ‘Shazam!’ The film stars Levi as Billy Batson, a kid who’s gifted with superhuman powers and a grown-up superhero alter ego. But some fans of both movies have been using Levi’s name to attack Captain Marvel, and that’s something the actor doesn’t want.

Levi doesn’t feel like the film should be pitted against his own because it tells the story of a very different hero. But he doesn’t want the name of his own character to get used as a way to troll the new Marvel film and lower its rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Levi is a proud supporter of his friend Brie Larson’s superhero blockbuster, and he wants to make sure that it succeeds.

In addition to starring in ‘Chuck,’ Levi has been in several other movies and TV shows. He starred as Georg Nowack in the 2016 Broadway revival of ‘She Loves Me,’ and he voiced Flynn Rider in the 2010 Disney animated film ‘Tangled.’ He also played Kipp Steadman on the FX TV show ‘Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie,’ and he had a supporting role in the 2002 comedy film ‘Less than Perfect.’

Levi has English, German, and Welsh ancestry and was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He started acting on stage at the age of six, and he has appeared in many musicals, including ‘Grease,’ ‘The Outsiders,’ and ‘Oklahoma!’ He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.