Tangled Up with Zachary Levi

it's I don't know, is it difficult for me? Because you are a huge broad You're a Broadway fanatic I am, and so you get and understand the background and the talent of our guest today better than I think most because a lot of people got introduced to him on Shazam as Shazam in that movie Blockbuster, but before that, people got family with him as the lead character on Chuck. But you uh huh, Chuck, don't give a damn, don't care.

Like I expect you to be an idiot or something. No, but you would just sometimes you just use find people you connect and you just had a great energy and you were just I was so impressed by you, and I said it to her immediately after spending time with you.

or whatever that is. And sometimes you might be surprised by somebody who's like, oh, he's an actor, but he has maybe a little bit more to say, or he has some more depth about what he's talking about. And I'd like to think that I think a lot about things and I feel very deeply, and I care very deeply, and so those things combined allow me to hopefully have conversations that are a little deeper, a little bit more inspiring. I don't know.

those opinions, refining them, iron, sharpening iron. That is the human experience, and it helps us all become better versions of ourselves in the process. I think that Hollywood has definitely held some strong common threads of beliefs, you know, and those by and large have leaned perhaps more liberal or more left in the political spectrum of things or whatever. But I don't know even everybody who does fall under that category. They all still have their own individual hearts

and minds. Whether or not they feel like they're able to express them is another conversation.

with me because of that. And there's other people that I know know my heart, They know me for a long time. They know that though we disagree politically or philosophically or whatever it is, I'm not trying to do anything other than try to unite as many people as I can in love and understanding that we are going to have differences of opinions. May we hash through those, May we be passionate and how we hash to through those. But may we always see each other as a child

of God. May we never abandon this thing of somehow saying like, well, you're a monster, you're a monster, and you're evil because you think X, Y or Z, Like that's insane. That's never going to bring us together. I think one of the biggest problems is that we have been conditioned so much on both sides of the aisle. By the way two, it's not it used to be. Hey, how do we bring people together? Don't give up what you believe to be true. Let's find the common truth.

There is common truth. We're all dancing around some of these things and almost getting it and almost on all these from all these trajectories. But let's get there. Let's actually get there. It's it's become far less about let's get there and far more about No, I just want

to win. I want to win this moment. And that's why so much of I've found the legacy media they you know, with journalism, we're finding out even journalists way back in the day, there was still government programs that were leaning on our journalists, like even Cronkite, which is crazy to think about, but if you go back far enough, talk shows, news, they were far more neutral and how they approached different viewpoints, they allowed the journalistic integrity to

still be holding. I find in legacy media nowadays. You could be very right in the point that you're making, But if you're making it in this kind of sarcastic those idiots on the other side, do you think that's helping the point. Do you think that's helping get people to your side. No, you're just preaching to your choir. You're just becoming an echo chamber. And that's not good for me.

You said heart, and you said willing to shoulder a burden. You use those two things, and I'm wondering what the new movie coming out? You got a movie this weekend, Unbreakable Boy, that has heart. I'm saying, as you've become more outspoken and more comfortable and talking about who you are, are you picking and choosing projects that are more reflective of you and heart and a position or bringing people together?

Because there's a lot of stuff in this movie that it's very difficult to argue with, but people will find a way. But has that in any way changed how you go about now choosing projects and trying to get your message out not just through an interview, but maybe through your work.

these projects still find me. The Unbreakable Boy essentially found me. My criteria for the types of films projects that I want to be a part of really comes down to, well, what is the whole? What is the whole of it? What is the entire package of it? What is the script and the story? First and foremost, is it something that I feel like is done excellently? And then is the team around it one that's prepared to execute it excellently. If we make excellence, then you find truth and excellence.

You don't have to go preach to people what you think is the truth. Go tell something just authentically. Go tell something authentically and excellently and allow people to find the message in that, and I think when you do on both sides again, like there have been a lot of let's say more Christian or faith based films that historically in the past have not been very good. They've not from a from an entertainment aspect. The message is nice,

but the packaging is garbage. You know. It's like it's like it's like wrapping a really tasty chocolate and a bunch of donshit. I mean, it's like it's like, what are you doing? Why? That doesn't have to be that way. But unfortunately a lot of the people that were doing those stories were not high level artists let's say at that time or in those but they had really good hearts.

Then on the other side, you've got a lot of the more let's say mainstream entertainment that is incredible to look at and it's got it's the fit and finish is wonderful, but it's like poison being wrapped in chocolate. It's like, what are we what are we doing here? You know, there's got to be a better way you can have chocolate wrapping chocolate. It can all be good, it can all be a nice little thing. So I

think that that's you. You have to You can't just relax or or rely or rest on the laurels of the message that cannot be. You still got to go make something that's really good. And you cannot be proselytizing on either side. You can't be hitting people over the head with religion and you can't be hitting them over the head with whatever new religion is. And there's a

lot of that stuff. There's a lot of things that people are like, no, you got to bend the knee to whatever this new thought process is, this agenda is. It's like, no, sorry, If you want me to come around on what you believe, then you better do it better than that instead of just trying to beat people in a submission like believe it or you're canceled. It's like, what that's not That's not gonna work.

have no idea. What I know is that there are still lots of wonderful projects that are coming my way, and now maybe not ironically, but kind of ironically even more in some respect, because there are people, there's a whole new batch of filmmakers and executives that are fed up with the nonsense that don't want to be a part and haven't wanted to be a part of the Hollywood system and the brokenness out there for a long time.

They've just been waiting for a moment where independent creators can go and do that outside of that system, unbeholden to that system. And more and more of them pop up every single day, people that are that we're in that traditional system, that have a lot of weight, but they're like, I don't want to go and do this anymore. I don't want to do that. So there's going to be more of that. There's gonna be other opportunities entirely things that I'm looking forward to, spreading my wings and

scratching those itches. Things that you know, like even if listen, when I came out of the proverbial closet, the political clauset, you.

And I know that a lot of other people disagreed with that, and they felt it was right to go and support the other candidate, and God bless them, that is their right, that is their autonomy, that is their agency. And I would never and I never have ever blamed anybody for feeling that that compulsion. But I knew what I needed to do within my own life, and I knew that if I truly believe that God's called me to that, then God will be with me and will provide however God's going to provide.

I was gonna be okay, We're gonna be okay. I don't I don't know what the future holds, but actually, right now it feels very groovy, Like I Do'm not like I'm really not. I'm not worried about whatever my I'm worried for this country, our world. I have those types of worries. But I know that if I'm ever going to affect any kind of positive change in that, I've got to be willing to take these types of steps,

in these types of stands. I think that we as a society, and this is a very cyclical thing, right, like we we have become very soft isn't exactly the right word, but we've we we we we prioritize this idea of like self preservation to an extent that I think a lot of people are just terrified of, Like, well, I don't wanna. I don't want to do anything that would compromise that. Now, Listen, self preservation is not that's survival, right.

We obviously have to make decisions that are not stupid, that are that are wise for us for those around us. But we wouldn't be sitting in this studio right now, in this incredible city, in this incredible country, were it not for a whole bunch of men who were literally willing to They took self preservation completely off the table

and said, I'm willing to die for it. I'm willing to die to preserve actual liberty, freedom, this dream, this crazy dream that these crazy people had hundreds of years ago, at this point, that the beginning of what this country is. An imperfect journey and an imperfect country, which is all true. And yet here we sit in this incredible freedom and in this incredible comfort that we've all now gotten. And

I'm like, wait a minute. If people are willing to die for this, how much am I willing to give up? If I feel like we're at a very pivotal point in humanity and in this country. Okay, so I give up an acting career that I've been blessed to do for twenty five years, and maybe I'll go in podcast, or maybe I'll go and sing, or maybe I'll go and whatever. I don't know, I'll do something.

what clicked with you. What was it about his messaging and him that got you so impassioned and so excited that you were potentially willing to say, Hey, I won't act anymore to be this voice.

I mean every industry. When it came to Bobby Kennedy and Maha, I was like, first of all, I could I personally could not think of a better presidential candidate for me for my dollars than a Robert F. Kennedy Junior. I didn't vote for Trump the first two elections. In fact, I was down the ticket libertarian like voting my conscience on the last you know, three or however many, because I was like, I was fed up with this duopoly. I was fed up with this red and blue and

everything else. And I think a lot of us are and were and whatever, and so all of a sudden and all of the candidates that we were being offered, I felt like, I don't see the level of humility and integrity in them that I personally want. And all of a sudden, here comes Bobby Kennedy. And as with everyone, he's not a perfect human being, and he doesn't have the perfect past or whatever. You can pick people apart endlessly.

Who are they right now? Who have they become? Who have they become through their darkness, through their trials, through their tribulations. Have they decided to be a victim and be angry? It's an increase. I mean, I get worked up even thinking about it, because it's like, that's an example of a leader that I wanted to vote for for president. So I already saw that in him, as

in his character. More than that, the fact that he had already fought for us in so many ways, litigating against massive industry, particularly energy companies that were poisoning the earth and poisoning us, like he's done it over and over and over and over again. So for him to be like, yeah, you know what we need to do

more than anything, we just need transparency. We need to look into all of the documentation and all the data and just make sure that what they're telling us is true, that all of these things are safe and effective and not hurting us and not harming us. And quite frankly, I think that what we're about to find out, and we're already find out finding out, is that there's a lot of corruption in all of that. I mean, look at here's just one little thing. How's how's your gluten tolerance?

Are you abe no to Farila? Like, are you able to eat bread in the United States?

mean to make America great again? When was it great for you? When was it great for me? Which can be a valid argument. I understand that. I think that there's things that I think. I think there's things that we can point to that are universal great things. Right, But nobody should be arguing about what's healthy and what makes us healthy. I mean, even though we'll find influencers all over the map who were going to carnivores better

than keto versus the vegetarian or whatever. Right, but I think all of us can can recognize if we're shown true under the hood and we get the light the disinfectant and we go, oh wow, turns out red three die is not something we should have in our body. Turns out that all of these additives and all these preservatives and all these things that are already and have been illegal in Europe that we still get fed aren't great for us. That shouldn't be a shocker. That should

be something that we all agree on. Let's do it.

We deserve to be informed entirely before we consent to any of these things, and we have not been offered that as the American people.

this is probably what went down. And there was censorship, like broad, broad levels censorship all over social media, all of the news. You were a whack you were a crackpot. How dare you insinuate that's conspiracy theory, that's racist. People said to suggest that perhaps the Wuhan, you know, variology in the Institute of Virology that was working on gain of function, all of these things, these these turn out

to be true. Those to me are pretty large hallmarks of a massive obfuscation that's going on, and we deserve to know the.

have noticed us nudging each other earlier. You were giving an answer we just dealt with something a short time ago with the family member that you just described, which is like, wow, we're on different size of an issue, and that means you have to be a monster, and that it sums up and you summed up a just where we are in this country in terms of the back and forth.

I never claim to be like unimpeachable about what I believe, and I change and evolve every single time I presented with new evidence about something, I will eat crow if I have to eat crow. To me, it's not a matter of winning so that I don't have to eat crow. It's that we all win. And in order for all of us to win, that means we all have to be humble enough to recognize any one of us could be absolutely wrong at any moment.

movie and I'm interested in him. Are you Are you hoping like they hear more from you and they'll meet interested more in the project? Are you hoping like it's just it seems like such a balance to that you have to strike. Unfortunately, I should say that where you use your platform that the movies give you to talk about something that then hurts you. Sometimes possibly if people don't like the message from the actor.

autistic spectrum. This is a film that really handles that subject matter so beautifully and authentically and deeply and also heart wrenchingly like oh, it'll hit you in the feels like I'm so proud of this film. So go see The Umbranka Boy on February twenty first or beyond whenever. In answers to your question, I'm a firm believer that authenticity is maybe one of the most important things that

we should be striving for in our lives. And so to the extent that I get the opportunity to go and promote films, and in the process of promoting that film, I get to talk about other things. Right, This is part of the reason why you had the reaction to me being possibly coming on your show, even based on our little bit of time at Good Morning America, Because I want to talk about things in a deeper, more interesting way, things that affect all of us. What is life?

What is faith? You know? All of these things? Right so, And because I spend a lot of time thinking about these things, I'm not afraid to talk about them. I want to talk about them. I want the conversation to keep going. I don't want conversation to be stopped even if I'm wrong. Come to me, talk to me, say hey, here's some of new evidence. Amazing. We're never gonna get there if all of us are so afraid to share our authentic self and talk about what we believe authentically.

And more than that, you know, yes, there are some people that may disagree with you and don't like what you're saying, and that makes them they are incapable of disconnecting the art from the artists, and so they'll be like, ah, I don't like this person anymore personally, so therefore I'm not gonna go support their art. That's an unfortunate subset

of human beings. But I would say I believe. I hope overwhelmingly there are more people that, even if they don't agree with you entirely about what you believe, if they see that you care, they see that you are true, they see that you are an authentic human being who's

willing to engage and wants to engage. Then they will take from this interview and say, you know, I don't know that I maybe feel led to go watch that movie, or maybe I wasn't before, but not because of the way he talked about the movie, but because he just was willing to be vulnerable and share his heart. I want to go and see what they've created. I want

to go support that person. So you never know, you never know what comes out of you know, having these larger conversations, but I think they're worth having all the time, better than talking about the weather which is freezing outside.

us who we are. But who is the man sitting here today because of what you went through?

was a God that loved me. I mean I remember very vividly at three or four, I'm in like some Sunday school or something, and there's an adult trying to explain the concept of God to me, and I'm like, no, I got it, like I got like I you know, I think we do though, I think children it's one of the things, like, you know, we all think of our children or children in general, as like this brand new soul or something that's that's totally naive to the

mysteries of the universe. And I think we are. I think we do ourselves a disservice because that soul came from source God, Heaven aught, which is full of all enlightenment and all love and all awareness. And then they come down and they're in your womb, and then they're out into the world, and yes, they're walking around like a baby deer and bumping into walls and all of these things. But I think their awareness is far more

wise than we give them credit for. And I remember being that four year old child and me like, no, there is a wisdom in me. I have an understanding about certain things. And so I've always had a deep faith in God, God, God big g God, and that has manifested and evolved over the years, and growing up in non denominational Christian type of upbringing, although we rarely

went to church, my mom was pretty anti authority. Well I wonder where I got it from anyway, And so, but about I've always had a deep spirituality and a deep faith, which was one of the hardest things about my mental breakdown, because I legitimately lost God, or felt like I lost God. In that time. I was consumed in darkness and was lost, just so lost, and didn't feel like there was any way out of it. And

therefore where was God? If I could not see even a glimmer of hope, even a pinprick of light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel, than where was God? And it was hard and I and it was humbling. And but I tell you what, man on the other side of that, Not only do I have an even stronger faith or a stronger sense of my connection to my creator. But I think I have a far better one,

a far healthier one. I think religion unfortunately, though I do think there's a lot of good that has come into the world that organized religion has been a part of helping to foster like civilization and moralities and justice. And you know, there's a lot of really good that we can credit to organize religion, but there's also a lot of not good. And because it's made up of us, of the fallen, of people that are stuck in struggling in their egos still, and the flesh and the spirit

in this constant battle. And and I think that I was holding on to a lot of things within religion that we're just not a part of God. And I think a lot of people do. I think a lot of people are holding onto that or elements of that, And in doing so, you know, honestly, it's like it's one of the craziest things, in such an incredible example of man's hubrius. I think that we in one sentence can say these two things. We can proclaim there is

a God which is this infinite being. I mean, almost any religion or any you know, you say what is God? And people say, well, you know, it's this omniscient omnipresence like all powerful let's says everything. It's like the force in Star Wars. Right, Like, we all, regardless of what we believe God is, we can all agree that those are some of the elements or the you know, the

kind of temperament or whatever that is of God. So we'll say in one sentence, we'll say there is a God, massive statement and then follow it with and we know it completely. We know that infinite unknowing thing. We know it's so completely that we can put it in this box that's labeled Christianity or Judaism or Muslim or whatever it is. And we know it. And it's like, guys, shouldn't we have enough humility to recognize that. We might

think we're we're on the right track. We might have some more information than some other people might not have. But you think that that manuscript, either the Bible or the Koran or whatever, is giving you every last ounce of information about a completely infinite being. Like what are we even talking about right now? What are we even talking about? And so I think we all just need to have a little more humility as we approach the

creator and approach each other. And that's one of the things that I definitely took out of my complete mental breakdown and coming in God slowly but surely putting me back into a piece by piece into the man that sits before you now. And I'm so grateful. Like you said, like, it's so hard in the midst of it. It is so hard in the midst of it, when you're crying out, You're like, God, why am I here? Why are you

doing this? To then be able to weather that storm and come out the other side and learn things and and and grow and evolve, And you're like, Wow, I'm so grateful for the person that I am today. I'm so grateful.

this this hand that's holding you through it. And it's and the whole family can watch it from a subject matter perspective. All of the performances are cast our crew. It's just a it's a really wonderful film. And so again, I know everybody says that, but it really is. It really is.

thing at the same time. And this is we've had this for thousands of years, well before film and television obviously, all performance and theaters and the amphitheaters of Greece and

whatever it is. Right, this is a thing that we've been blessed with because not only do we get to go and experience whatever this entertainment is, but by sitting in a room full of hundreds of strangers that you know, just by default do not think like you, do not feel like you, do not agree with you, politically, philosophically, spiritually, whatever it is. By default, you know there's a good chance a bunch of people in here are not like me.

And then you get to sit to an experience where you all laugh and you all cry the same moments that is necessary for us to get back to being like, Wow, you know, we're not all that different. We're not all that different. Look at how these things resonate in our souls. We're not that different. So I encourage people to go watch films in the theater. If for Noah's the other reason, then for that, you know, no, that's man.

find the thing that's most common. And something as simple as that. I didn't think about it enough when we talk about movies. But just go to a movie and you have something in common with somebody that you would normally and maybe on Twitter hate exactly, And that's just that's God. We wish we could push that theme more here, and it just we talk about it all the time, man, all the time.

Hershey's Pennsylvania exist? It's because Hershey wanted to make a bunch of chocolate. But not just stopping at making a factory. He goes, well, how do I take care of my workers? Well, let's build them homes, and let's build them health services and schools for their kids. Why not. The healthiest are the happiest bees make the tastiest honey. I'm a firm

believer in that. And if you can go take care of people and really where their needs are so satiated they don't think about their wants anymore, that's the world I want to go make and I want to make that for people in my industry, and I hope that we're very close to doing that right there in Austin, Texas and then being able to make whatever film or television or music or whatever it is that I get to make beyond that.