Zachary Levi, the actor best known for his work inChuckand as the superhero Shazam, is opening up about the professional fallout from expressing his political views, namely his support for Donald Trump. In a cover-story conversation withVariety, Levi revealed that his opinions have left some in Hollywood reluctant to work with him. According to Levi, he knew that this would be the probable outcome of his voicing his views.
“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.”
Despite the potential professional drawbacks, Levi also acknowledged an unexpected benefit:
“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.”
Zachary Levi Really Thought He’d Be the Next Chris Evans Before His DC Flop
The actor, who recently endorsed Donald Trump for President, is coming off a string of box-office duds that have stalled his movie career.
Before endorsing Donald Trump in September 2024, Levi had initially backed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Later that same month,he spoke at a Trump rally, declaring, “we’re here to make sure that we are going to take back this country, we are going to make it great again.” However, when speaking with Variety, Levi is sure to clarify that his support for Trump doesn’t mean blind devotion, admitting he doesn’t see him as “the Orange Messiah.” He also acknowledged the possibility of being misled:
“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.”
Zachary Levi’s Vaccine Views and the Future of ‘Shazam’
Adding to the controversy, Levi has also shared divisive opinions on the COVID-19 vaccine. In September, he suggested that his former Broadway co-star, Gavin Creel, who passed away from cancer in 2024, might still be alive if he had not taken the COVID-19 vaccine. Before the release ofShazam! Fury of the Godsin 2023, Levi also took to Twitter to express his agreement that Pfizer was “a real danger to the world.”
Levi first portrayed Shazam in the 2019 filmShazam!. While that feature was a critical and commercial success,its 2023 sequel bombed at the box office, grossing $134.1 million worldwide against a production budget of $110–125 million. Critically, the film failed to live up to its predecessor (for context, the first film holds a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes while the sequel fell to 49%).
James Gunn, who is now co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, and obviously has a significant say in the future of characters like Shazam, previously spoke out about Levi’s vaccine views. Speaking about Gunn, Levi shared:
“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. 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.”
SinceShazam! Fury of the Godsis not canon to James Gunn’s plans, the future of Levi’s Shazam in the new DCU is uncertain, but that’s not stopping the actor from sharing that he “loved playing the role” and would “absolutely” reprise the character.
