Imagine, all you had to do was say one word, and your life would change. It’s not that simple, though.
You must honestly believe in yourself and draw on your love for your family to make it work.
Imagine that it worked, you used all your faith, and suddenly you have become the best version of yourself.
There are at least two instances where we know this happened.
The first is the storyline of the superhero movie, “Shazam!” The second is the real-life story of the man who plays “Shazam!” Zachary Levi.
By transforming his mentality, the actor overcame his childhood trauma and made his dreams come true.
By the end of 2007, Levi had already made a name for himself.
He appeared as Chuck Bartowski in the television series “Chuck,” playing the role of a reluctant CIA spy, who went on to become his most-known television character.
Levi also directed a few episodes of the series.
Before he was Shazam!, the actor landed a role as Flynn Rider in Disney’s “Tangled”.
Not only did his character win over the hearts of the audience, but the actor reprised his role for a series based on the film.
It certainly appeared that Zachary was on a steady incline in his career. It also appeared that the momentum wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon.
When it came to love, Levi was first rumored to have hooked up with singer Rachael Taylor in 2007.
Later, he confirmed his relationship with singer and actress Caitlin Crosby. The former couple dated for two years before parting ways.
According to tabloids, the actor broke up with Crosby before his “Heroes Reborn” premiere.
The “Chuck” star reportedly told the actress that their relationship was bad timing and that if God brings them together in the future, it’s meant to be.
After Zachary broke up with Caitlin, he moved on to actress and retired fashion model Missy Peregrym.
On 14 June 2014, the lovebirds tied the knot with a secret Hawaiian ceremony.
Though they were happy together in the initial stages of their relationship, their marriage didn't last long.
The couple’s happily ever after came to a screeching halt, and after six months of being husband and wife, Missy filed for divorce.
She cited the very familiar “irreconcilable differences” as the reasoning.
The same year Levi went through divorce, he faced another tragedy. After battling cancer, his mom, Susy Pugh, passed away.
The next few years would be a dark path for the actor.
He continued working after his mom’s death, and it appeared that everything was going great.
However, Levi had been secretly battling demons this whole time.
We would only find out about his inner struggles after what the actor would consider his rock bottom.
The “Shazam” star grew up in Ventura, California. His mother was an alcoholic who self-medicated with booze and, later, pills.
His parents split when he was 6, and his father soon left for a job on the East Coast.
Darrell Pugh was not very present in the early years of his children’s upbringing.
Later, Levi’s mother and stepfather moved him and his two sisters to Washington State for a spell, then back to Ventura.
He was always the new kid, always running his mouth.
“When I was around 4, I figured out a simple thing: If I made someone laugh, they smiled, and that made me feel good,” he said, adding,
“And I wouldn’t shut the f*** up. I would lose friends just as fast as I made them.”
Young Zachary was into comic books and superheroes. While this may form pop culture now, this wasn’t the case then.
Comic books, science fiction, and similar things were considered a niche. Back in Zachary’s day, it was a niche that branded you a nerd.
Even though the actor said he never really fitted into any single clique in high school, he can confirm that he was very nerdy.
Zachary even admitted that he would often get bullied because of how nerdy he was.
The actor found his identity in the arts. Levi performed in community theater productions before he even graduated from high school.
Then he moved to L.A. to break into the entertainment business.
There were TV pilots and a starring role in a Disney animation.
He performed at the Oscars with Mandy Moore in 2011 and played Fandral, a swashbuckling friend of Thor in the massive Marvel franchise.
He was nearly cast as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy but lost out to Chris Pratt in the final moments.
The rejection stung, and the situation worsened when Pratt’s face became ever-present on billboards and magazine covers.
“It’s part of what drove me into darkness: my unhealthy take on what that meant to my own worth,” Levi said.
He had struggled with bouts of depression and self-doubt in the past, but this was something new and newly frightening.
At night, he’d struggle to sleep, unsure of what it all added up to.
It didn’t help that in 2016 when he flew to Australia to film Thor: Rag­narok, he had just a few lines in the film — and they were cut.
He appeared onscreen only long enough for Cate Blanchett to casually impale him with flying swords.
Levi’s life soon began to unravel as he was dealing with his failed marriage and his mother’s passing.
“I’d gone through all kinds of s*** in my life, things that I was aware of, things that I was not aware of.
I was at a place in my life where I didn’t really understand why I wanted to live anymore,” the actor confessed.
Even though the struggles with mental health came to light in his adulthood, Zachary knows that his painful childhood started everything.
Decades of pent-up trauma led to unhealthy coping mechanisms.
The actor is a Christian in faith.
When he opened up to the Christian Broadcasting Network about his downward spiral, Levi confessed that he turned to sex, drugs, and booze to cope with the nasty voices in his head.
“The irony is that booze can give you this temporary relief, but then the next day amplifies that anxiety tenfold,” he reflected.
Eventually, after years of hidden anxiety and depressive episodes, the actor reached his limit.
“I've struggled with this stuff most of my life. I didn't realize that I was struggling with these things until I was 37, and I had a complete mental breakdown,” he said.
Until then, Levi had been convincing himself that he was fine.
However, the negativity in his mind soon became unbearable, and the thoughts of ending his life became impossible to push down.
Zachary booked himself into a psych ward. The actor went into a three-week mental health retreat at an undisclosed location in Connecticut.
It was the kind of intensive, all-hands-on-deck program initially designed for Fortune 500 CEOs facing burnout.
The “Alvin and the Chipmunks” star saw a psychotherapist and a dialectical behavioral therapist. He did art therapy, meditated, and worked with a nutritionist.
He hit the gym four days a week, did Pilates twice a week, and did yoga.
“It was an incredible one-on-one therapeutic, healing, spiritual deep dive into figuring out the pain and sadness,” Levi explained.
The actor learned that he needed to reprogram his brain. One of the things Zachary learned was how to forgive his mom.
“To look at her as the 5-year-old girl who was getting abused by her mom, this is generational.
My mom thought she was doing the best things for us when we were kids. We’re all trying to do our best,” he assured.
Later, after her passing, therapists suspected the actor’s mother of having a borderline personality disorder with narcissistic tendencies.
In 2022, Levi released a memoir titled, “Radical Love: Learning To Accept Yourself and Others.”
In the book, the actor discusses his emotional journey through life.
The memoir details an abusive childhood and a lifetime of crippling anxiety and depression.
Zachary discusses his reconnection with his faith, how he perceived his career, and the valuable insights he’s learned along the way.
The actor is painfully honest about his experience growing up with Susy.
Although some moments are horrific, Levi tells his story from a place of love and understanding.
His goal was not to slander his parents for the trauma they put him through.
Instead, the actor used the book as a platform to change the stigmas around mental health and seeking help.
Zachary hopes that opening up about his battle with depression and thoughts of ending his life will help others in pain.
"If I do nothing else in this world, I want people to understand that they are loved, that they are worthy of love, and that they are worthy of investing in themselves," he avowed.
Levi is not one to mince his words. He told Men’s Health magazine that the program he went for “saved my life.”
After the program ended, things started looking up again. The “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” actor found a renewed hope for life.
Towards the end of the program, he also received a second call-back to audition for “Shazam!”
Initially, the 41-year-old turned down the role because he thought he wasn’t muscular enough or didn’t suit the part.
But it’s always been a dream of his to play a superhero, one that fans would love.
The refreshed version of himself with a reset mentality decided to take a leap of faith!
Zachary filmed his audition for “Shazam!” on his iPhone and e-mailed it in. His agent called that same night.
The director had watched the tape and freaked out. Levi’s young-at-heart energy was exactly what the director had been looking for.
A week later, the studio signed off, and Levi was in a costume fitting for the custom suit.
A person seizes a huge new opportunity while learning to believe in themself?
To transform into a superhero, Billy is told to say, “Shazam!” But for the spell to work, he must first believe the words.
“You must say it with purpose,” Billy is told.
“With belief, with good intentions. With thoughts of your parents and your family, say it, and you will be transformed into your greatest potential.’”
A journalist for Men’s Health asked Levi about the uncanny manner in which the whole “Shazam!” gig unfolded for him.
“Dude, the timing gives me f***ing goosebumps,” the actor revealed.
He believes that it worked out the way it did with God’s grace. Levi would have self-destructed if he had taken the role before his therapy program.
Instead, he went and did the work he needed on himself, and so God gave him the blessing of his dream role.
While there is no cure for mental health struggles, Zachary Levi is taking everything one day at a time.
He has prioritized himself and his well-being and has a completely new outlook on life.
As the actor finally learnt to embrace who he is, he has been setting healthy boundaries and creating routines that will help him in the long term.
Watch out world, here comes Shazam!