Zachary Levi Says Auditioning For Guardians of the Galaxy Helped Him Get Cast In Shazam!

Zachary Levi is a full-fledged DCEU superhero as Shazam!, and he notes that auditioning for Guardians of the Galaxy helped him land the role. Levi appeared on the Fourth Well podcast (per The Playlist) and during the conversation, he talked about how he auditioned for the role of Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the MCU film.

“James [Gunn] and I knew each other, we were friends, we would have game nights at each other’s homes, had a lot of mutual friends,” Levi said. “And so he had asked me to come in and read for Star-Lord, and I did, and then that led to the next step, and then all of a sudden I was camera testing. Oh man, I wanted that role so bad, like so, so, so, so bad. It came down to me, one other guy, and Chris Pratt, but Chris was always their favorite and he was hesitant to take it, which is understandable, I mean it’s a big franchise thing, it’s Marvel, does it work out, does it not work out? Is this what everyone is going to know me as for the rest of my life? All of those things that go through your head.”

He continued, “But eventually, and I think smartly, [Pratt] decided to take the job and so it didn’t go my way or anyone else’s way for that matter, but I hoped I left enough of a good impression with James that when I was auditioning for Shazam, and his very dear friend, and manager, and sometimes producing partner, Peter Safran, calls up James because this is how our industry works. Fortunately, I was in good standing with James, I try to be in good standing with as many people as I can be and try to be a decent person, and I think between that and how well James thought I did in the Star-Lord test, he said, ‘Yeah man, you really should give Zach an opportunity at this. I really think he could be great.’”

Zachary Levi is set to reprise his role as Shazam in Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which is due to release in 2023.