Zachary Levialways wanted to be a superhero.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamt about being a superhero,” theShazam!star, 38, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “That enthusiasm that you see me play in the movie, a lot of that is just my own natural enthusiasm because I was checking off bucket list item after bucket list item.”
While he’d always been ready mentally,getting into shapeto play an immortal man who can lift a bus took more work.
“I got the job and I was in the gym 5-6 days a week,” Levi says. “When I was trying to build mass, you’ve got to eat a lot of calories, 3,500-3,700 calories a day. And they have to be really clean calories, they can’t just beHäagen-Dazs!”
Eating a lot of healthy calories proved to be a tougher challenge than theworkouts. “Sitting down and being disciplined enough to keep putting all those calories in you when you’re not in even hungry, it feels like a job in and of itself,” Levi says.
He adapted to both the diet andexercise regimen, and then took on his next physical task: learning to fly.
“When I was shooting scenes where I was learning to fly I played some Tom Petty, ‘Learning to Fly,’ “ he says. “I carry literally a Bluetooth boom box with me and I had it on set every day and would play random music. I will always throw a dance party when I have an opportunity to.”
Zachary Levi/Instagram
Acting alongside teenagers like Jack Dylan Grazer and Asher Angel — who plays the teenager version of Shazam — helped Levi get in the mindset to play a 14-year-old at heart.
“They really did help me to remember over and over again that when you’re 14, you have no responsibilities and you can therefore feel much freer to be silly,” theChuckactor says. “And we forget that when we grow up.”
For more on Zachary Levi, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on stands now
But Levy insists he’s been able to hold onto his youth. “I literally brought my Nintendo Wii to set so we could play Mario Kart between takes,” the self-proclaimed “man-child” says. “I’ve always been a bit on the youthful side — Peter Pan syndrome and all that jazz. I’m really grateful that it ultimately paid off and didn’t just ruin my life.”
Shazam!is out now.
source: people.com
