Zachary Levi Talks Almost Getting Cast as Star-Lord and How James Gunn Helped Him Get SHAZAM!

Zechariah Levi he’s once again talking about the time he nearly landed the lead role of Star-Lord Guardians of the Galaxy and as director James Gunn helped him land Shazam! Star-Lord would have been such a differently styled character had Levi ended up in the role. But Shazam! it’s definitely a role that fits his personality better.

When talking about how Gunn helped him with Shazam!shared the following during an interview with CB:

“Look, I met Peter [Safran] for years now because he’s my producer on Shazam! and I’ve known James Gunn for even more years. We have mutual friends and have had game nights together in Los Angeles. I went to his Christmas party and almost became Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. He, James, stumped for me, fought for me when Peter asked about me. Hey, what do you think about Zach because we’re thinking about him for Shazam?’ James was like, ‘Yeah, go get that guy, he could really crush him.'”

It is not the first time that Levi talks about it. In fact, he went into more detail about how his journey to play Star-Lord led him to Shazam!, he previously shared:

“James and I knew each other, we were friends, we had game nights at each other’s houses, we had a lot of mutual friends. And so he had asked me to come in and read to Star-Lord, and I did, and then that led to the next step, and then all of a sudden I had the camera test. Oh man, I wanted that role so bad, so, so, so, so bad. It came to me, another guy, and Chris Pratt, but Chris has always been their favorite and he was reluctant to accept that, which is understandable, I mean, it’s a big thing about the franchise, it’s Marvel, does it work, doesn’t it work? know me for the rest of my life? All that stuff that go through your head.”

“But in the end, and I think intelligently, [Pratt] i decided to take the job and so it didn’t go my way or anyone else’s but i was hoping i had left such a good impression on james that when i was auditioning for ‘shazam’ and his very close friend, and the manager , and sometime producing partner, Peter Safran, calls James because that’s how our industry works… Luckily, I was in good standing with James, I try to be good 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 dude, you really should give Zach a shot at that.” I really think it could be great.’

“Was that the thing that made me lose everything? I don’t know, but I’m sure it was part of that conversation, absolutely. I am indebted to James that he would have believed in me enough to remember it and pass this information on.”

Chris Pratt he made the right choice to play the role of Star-Lord because he is so good in that role. In the end, it all worked out for everyone. Do you think Levi would have been good as Star-Lord?