Zachary Levi, the star of DC’s upcoming film Shazam!, isn’t quite sure he’s ready to be a sex symbol!
The leading man recently sat down with ET’s Keltie Knight at the press junket for the superhero film where she asked him about his “zaddy” status, and asked if he’s prepared to be fawned after by fans.
“No, I'm not ready for it,” he responded, later adding, “I don't think about that stuff." When she pressed him, comparing the actor to the Hemsworth brothers and stating that he could be in the running for Sexiest Man of the Year, he pumped the brakes, saying, “Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves, People magazine.”
“That's not real life,” he added. “None of that is real life. All that stuff is just the icing on the cake of the not real life that all of this is. So if people wanna put me in the same conversation as all those guys (the Hemsworths), rock ’n’ roll. I just am gonna keep doing what I think is the right thing in my life.”
The film centers around a teenage orphan named Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who is given the ability to transform into a godlike entity whenever he says the word, “Shazam!” But Batson and his new foster brother Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) must learn his powers in order to stop Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), a villain with super powers of his own.
While on hand, the 38-year-old actor also discussed the thrill of getting tapped for the coveted role, stating, “Yes... This is the far biggest thing I’ve ever been blessed enough to be a part of and be the titular character of, so it's super surreal and super cool.”
“I always dreamed and believed it was possible that I could be a superhero maybe one day, certainly ever since I was a kid I wanted that to be a reality," he admits. "But these roles are rare, there's not that many of them and I had already been very blessed playing an Asgardian in another universe.”
He is referring to his role as Fandral, a warrior from Asgard, in both Thor: Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok; his character perishes in the last film.
Levi also spoke with ET about the first time he tried on Shazam’s suit: “Well, I put it on and I was like, 'Wow this is really real. This is happening. This is super cool and this is my suit.' And then immediately it was like, 'It's really tight. This is really, really tight ‘cause it's like a second skin almost. But then eventually you kind of, you become one with the suit. It's very symbiotic.”
He also openly lamented how hard he’s had to work to embody a superhero, even with some help from the suit.
“I’ve spent a lot of time at the gym and eating a lot of protein and vegetables to the point where I don't really like eating them all that much anymore,” he admits. ”But look… there's definitely augmentation in the suit. I did everything I could to fill it with as much real me as possible and will continue to... I have to go workout tonight after the screening. You gotta stay on top of it.”
Shazam! arrives in theaters on April 5.
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