Zachary Levi, the star of the upcoming Shazam!, originally didn’t want to audition for the DC superhero blockbuster.
While it all worked out in the end for Zachary Levi, the star of DC’s Shazam!, the actor originally wasn’t going to audition for the role because he didn’t think that he would get it.
Producer Peter Safran explained (via ComicBook.com), that Levi passed on taping an audition for the role, however, after he eventually succumbed, Safran and co knew that there was no other man for the job:
“It was a very easy casting decision once we saw his tape but it is worth noting that initially 2 months before that we had gone to him and he had passed. And he just did because he didn’t believe that he would ever be cast for that role. So he just said, ‘I don’t want to run tape for it.'”
Of course, he changed his mind eventually: “He sent it in on a Friday. He self taped, he was back on the east coast, self taped on his phone. Sent it in and I think by Monday we had him in LA testing and on Tuesday got the role. Zach is this character. Zach is a 14-year-old boy trapped in a super hero’s body. And he would acknowledge that, I’m not saying anything he would not say about himself. He’s a kid and it was just so perfect when we saw what he did with the audition and he kinda bought that every single day to being Shazam.”
With the positivity surrounding the launch of Shazam! and the fact that he gets to play a DC superhero in his own movie, it’s a safe bet that Levi is now relieved that he gave in and sent that tape! Are you looking forward to the movie?
SEE ALSO: Get a sneak peek at DC’s Shazam! movie in new teaser
We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Asher Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Zachary Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).”
Shazam will see Zachary Levi starring as the titular superhero, with Asher Angel as his young alter-ego Billy Batson, Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddy Freeman, Ian Chen as Eugene Choi, Jovan Armand as Pedro Peña, Grace Fulton as Mary Marvel, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez, Faithe Herman as Darla Dudley, Mark Strong as Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, Djimon Hounsou as the Wizard, Adam Brody as Freddie Freeman, Ross Butler as Eugene Choi, D. J. Cotrona as Pedro Pena, Meagan Good as Darla Dudley, and Michelle Borth as Mary Bromfield. The film is set for release on April 5th 2019.
Originally published February 13, 2019. Updated February 14, 2019.
