Zachary Levi On How Life-Saving Therapy Helped Him Land Shazam Role

Actor Zachary Levi stars in the DC superhero series Shazam, and in a new interview, he discussed how he landed the role after initially intending to take a break from acting to focus on therapy.

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Levi said he was "in kind of a dark place" in his life when DC was casting Shazam. He previously discussed his use of sex, drugs, and alcohol to distract and numb himself from the pain of his personal life.

Levi underwent "super intensive, life-saving therapy" where he said he learned how to love himself for what he said was the first time in his life. He had a breakthrough. He was getting to a better place in his life, but he still told his agents he wanted a break from acting during therapy to grow and heal further. But he auditioned for Shazam anyway, and he ended up landing the role.

"In the course of basically one week, I ended up going from auditioning for this whole other role to them saying, 'Hey, we think you're our Shazam,'" Levi said (via The Hollywood Reporter). Levi had another audition and was eventually given the role of Shazam. "It's indicative of when we do the real work to heal ourselves, and help other people heal themselves, that's where all the good stuff comes from. That's where that blessing landed in my life," he said.

In addition to Shazam, Levi is known for his starring role on the TV series Chuck and for voicing the Disney character Flynn Rider in the movie Tangled.

Shazam: Fury of the Gods releases in theaters on March 17. It brings back Levi and Asher Angel, alongside a trio of big-name additions, including Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, and Rachel Zegler.

In other news, Levi recently made headlines over his comments about COVID-19 vaccine-maker Pfizer, prompting a response from DC boss James Gunn. Fury of the Gods, which opened in theaters on March 17, is not expected to make as much money as the first movie over its first weekend in the US.