Long before he became Shazam in the DC Extended Universe, Zachary Levi seemed to have always been interested by superheroes, as seen by his short cameo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, many of you may not be aware that Levi previously auditioned for the role of Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, and it may surprise you to learn that he came close to landing the role.
Obviously, Chris Pratt outperformed Levi, but the Tangled voice actor claims that his failed GOTG audition lead him to the comic book film part he was born to portray, which he credits to James Gunn.
Despite the fact that the two have never worked together on screen, they built a deep friendship because to his MCU audition, which is still going strong today. Levi discussed how Gunn was important in his DCEU casting years before directing The Suicide Squad in an interview on The Fourth Wall podcast.
According to the actor himself, producer Peter Safran gave Gunn a call and that’s where it all began. He recalls: “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. 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. 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.”
Zachary added: “But eventually, and I think smartly, he 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.” Was that the thing that sent it all over for me? I don’t know that, but I’m sure it was part of that conversation, absolutely. I’m indebted to James that he would believe in me enough to remember that and pass that info on.”