Between Chuck and Tangled, there was a time when Zachary Levi was almost universally loved by film and television fans. However, that all changed when the actor publicly shared his support for Donald Trump and revealed his true feelings about the COVID-19 vaccine.
With regards to the latter, Levi's suggestion that actor Gavin Creel died of cancer—as a result of getting the vaccine—drew widespread backlash.
It seems a combination of that, Shazam! Fury of the Gods bombing (it grossed only $134 million worldwide on a $110 million budget), and Harold and the Purple Crayon's dismal critical and commercial performance ended Levi's hopes to become a Hollywood leading man.
Now, though, he's setting his sights elsewhere. Talking to Variety, the actor shared plans to build a $100 million full-service campus in Austin for his Wyldwood Studios, describing Hollywood as "the Detroit of the entertainment industry."
Commenting on his career prospects there, Levi says, "I know that there are people that would prefer not to work with me now because of my opinions. My team has let me know. They haven’t given me any specific names, but there are people who prefer not to work with me at this time. And it’s unfortunate. I knew that was probably going to happen. I didn’t make this decision blindly or casually."
"While there are some people who might prefer not to work with me anymore, there’s a lot of people on that side of the political spectrum who are even more inclined to hire me and to want to do business with me because 'I need some people who voted another way.' They see that what I did was at great risk."
Adding that he doesn't see Trump as "the Orange Messiah," Levi somewhat backtracked on his support for the President by acknowledging, "We are all capable of being bamboozled. I could be getting bamboozled right now, putting my trust into leaders that I helped to get elected."
Asked to respond to Shazam! Fury of the Gods co-star Rachel Zegler's controversial "May Trump supporters never know peace" comments on social media, Levi said, "I am one of those people, obviously. But I think that we have got to recognize that a lot of times people’s decisions are predicated upon the bad information that they’re being fed on a regular basis."
"So should I hate her because she’s downstream of all of these voices that are telling her that he’s Hitler and the people who vote for him are Nazis?" he continued. "She’s a really talented girl, and I do think that she wants the best for the world deep down."
Levi was also quizzed about DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn suggesting he didn't agree with Levi's stance on vaccines during a press event.
"I’ve known James for a really long time, and I believe that he was doing what he needed to do in order to answer those questions to the best of his ability," he said. "I didn’t feel like he threw me under a bus or anything. I think that James was answering honestly, according to how he feels, as he should."
As for whether he'd suit up as Shazam again, he noted, "Absolutely. I loved playing the role." However, he's in the dark about whether there's a place for the Big Red Cheese in the DCU. "No idea. It’s all well above my pay grade."
Chances are, Shazam won't return as there's been nothing to indicate Gunn has any desire to use the character. Levi was criticised for what fans argued was a one-note performance as the hero, with Billy Batson actor Asher Angel considered the perfect replacement by some fans.