Before you see him soar into action, here's a look back at some of the other works you
may have seen Zachary Levi star in.
If you were wondering, this is why the actor playing Shazam looks so familiar.
For his first-ever film gig, Levi nabbed a supporting role in the TV movie Big Shot:
Confessions of a Campus Bookie.
The film aired on FX in March of 2002, and although the movie was a dud, it was a great
opportunity for Levi to add a film credit to his acting resume.
Prior to Big Shot, he had only performed in theater productions.
With Big Shot, Levi was able to get his feet wet in Hollywood, which potentially acted
as a springboard for his career's next big achievement.
ABC's Less Than Perfect was a moderately successful workplace sitcom that debuted in 2002 and
ran through 2006.
The show followed Sara Rue's Claude Casey, an employee at a television network.
Other big names in the cast included Sherri Shepherd and Andy Dick, who played Claude's
coworkers.
However, it was Levi who truly made a name for himself as Kipp Steadman, Claude's elitist
frenemy and primary rival.
He appeared in all 81 episodes of the series.
"We're gonna pretend like you guys didn't do this on purpose."
"Can we at least give it a shot?"
Playing Kipp, Levi started to see his life change.
In a 2003 interview with Relevant Magazine, the then-22-year-old opened up about his newfound
fame:
"It's weird.
To me, it hasn't all completely sunk in yet.
But at the same time, I hope it never does…
I hope there's always at least a small part of me that's always surprised, always taken
aback, always childlike or innocent in the whole process."
Considering that in Shazam! he played a 14-year-old in an adult's body, Levi apparently got his
wish.
2006's Big Momma's House 2 starred Martin Lawrence reprising his role of FBI agent Malcolm
Turner and his undercover alter ego "Big Momma."
Although its premise is very similar to the first film, the sequel does inject a few new
faces to its story.
One of those new additions is Zachary Levi, who plays an FBI agent.
Although Big Momma's House 2 failed to live up to its predecessor in terms of both revenue
and reviews, it was actually a huge milestone for Levi's career, marking the first time
his presence would grace the big screen in theaters.
You can safely assume that being on the set of a film with a production budget of $40
million was at least slightly different from Levi's sitcom experience.
In his breakthrough role on NBC's cult favorite TV series Chuck, Levi played Chuck Bartowski,
computer-geek-turned-secret-agent.
The show perfectly showcased Levi's full arsenal of acting chops, from humorously innocent
to surprisingly badass.
"C-Casey?"
His chemistry with Yvonne Strahovski, who portrayed Chuck's CIA handler Sarah Walker,
also proved that he could convincingly maintain a love interest on-screen.
Chuck was a major part of Levi's life, and it isn't a role he’ll soon to forget.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Levi didn't hide his desire to make a Chuck full-length
feature film:
"I'd love to do it.
As far as I know, I'm the only person who's affiliated with the show that's been trying
to make it happen on some level.
I've had meetings with various people.
There's just so many moving parts."
If Levi's career continues to blossom, don't be surprised to see Chuck: The Movie eventually
hit theaters.
After the first season of Chuck, Levi starred in the road trip comedy Wieners.
In the film, Levi, Keenan Thompson, and Fran Kranz play three friends who embark on a cross-country
mission to hunt down a talk-show host who's wronged one of them.
Oh, and they drive a hot dog-shaped vehicle to get there.
Obviously.
Unsurprisingly, Wieners failed to impress audiences and was possibly a low point for
Levi's budding career.
However, he had to know that the movie wasn't exactly going to be up for any awards from
the start.
The hot dog car was probably the first of several clues.
2008's Shades of Ray is difficult to assign a specific genre.
With layers of comedy, drama and romance, it's sort of a cinematic hodgepodge.
The indie film tells the story of Ray, whose parents are of different ethnic backgrounds,
and his quest to find the right woman.
In the movie, Levi starred in the title role as Ray, marking his first film appearance
as the main protagonist.
Although Shades of Ray wasn't a box office hit, it did well on the festival circuit,
winning various awards.
Sure, it's cool to be able to say you've starred in projects alongside Hollywood legends like
Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, or Meryl Streep, but only a very select few have the super-cool
privilege of saying they've starred alongside Alvin and the Chipmunks.
In 2009's Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Levi played Toby, the video game-obsessed
cousin of Jason Lee's Chipmunk-daddy Dave.
The kids movie was a major box office hit, raking in over $443 million worldwide and
becoming the ninth top-grossing movie of the year.
Good job, Levi!
"Oh man!
It burns!"
In RocketJump Studios' web series Video Game High School, video gaming has become the most
popular sport in the future, and VGH is an organization that teaches a wide curriculum
of various gaming genres.
The series has built up a cult following since it kicked off in 2012.
Although he only appeared in three episodes, Levi's time on VGHS left a lasting impression.
His Texas drawl and deadpan attitude makes the introduction to his first-person shooter
course arguably one of the best scenes in the show's first season.
"Hello students, and welcome to FPS 101.
My name is Ace, you can call me Ace.
Sound good?
Fantastic."
Zachary Levi made comic book movie headlines in 2012 when it was announced that he would
replace Josh Dallas as Fandral in Thor: The Dark World.
Although it was a minor role in a film that already had a very crowded cast, most fans
felt as though Levi was a great replacement for the part, and his dry bravado worked well
with the Asgardian swordsman.
Although Levi's Fandral had a brief and fatal cameo in Thor: Ragnarok, he had apparently
already reached his wit's end with Marvel.
As he told CinemaBlend, he was actually hoping for his character to be killed off because
Marvel had failed to develop any of the Warriors Three, and he was apparently grateful that
Cate Blanchett's Hela finished the job in Ragnarok.
In the second season of Amazon's Golden-Globe winning series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , Rachel
Brosnahan's newly-divorced Midge Maisel vacations with her family to the Catskills in upstate
New York.
It's here that Midge is set-up with dreamy doctor Benjamin Ettenberg, played with memorable
swagger by Zachary Levi.
Midge and Benjamin have a rocky start, but eventually their undeniable chemistry gets
the best of both of them.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Levi admitted that although he'd seen the
series' pilot, he actually didn't know that the show was picked up before he signed on:
"Then I got an offer to join, so my first bit of homework was bingeing the first season,
all in essentially a day, and I immediately wanted to be a part of this.
It's so well executed on every level, from the top down, and to get to share screen time
with Rachel Brosnahan in that role, that's an offer you can't refuse."
"People think if they buy me things I'll work harder to keep them alive."
"Are they right?
Yes."
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