Zachary Levi

Zachary Levi Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: September 29, 1980

Age: 43 years old

Birth Place: Lake Charles, Louisiana

Thanks to playing a computer geek-turned-unwitting government agent on the surprise hit series, "Chuck" (NBC, 2007-12), actor Zachary Levi emerged from relative obscurity to become a rapidly rising star. His portrayal of über-nerd Chuck Bartowski won over both audiences and critics with his over-anxious charm and techno-geek knowledge - some of which mirrored Levi's offscreen persona. Before hitting the big time with "Chuck," Levi landed a role in the made-for-television romantic comedy "See Jane Date" (ABC Family, 2003) and was a regular on the sitcom "Less Than Perfect" (ABC, 2002-06). After a significant supporting role in the comedy sequel, "Big Momma's House 2" (2006), Levi landed his role on "Chuck" and was propelled to stardom, earning accolades from various national critics and adoration from fans who followed the show in an almost cult-like fashion. Because of this sudden popularity, Levi began landing roles more frequently on screens both large and small, becoming in the process an unlikely leading man. Born on Sept. 29, 1980 in Lake Charles, LA, the future actor - who named Tom Hanks as the person he wanted to model his career after - moved around several times with his family while growing up until they finally settled in Ventura, CA. When he was six years old, Levi started acting in school and local community theater productions. After graduating from Buena High School, Levi starred in regional productions of "Grease," "The Outsiders," "Oliver," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Big River." With a struggling actor's salary, Levi took odd jobs to pay the bills, including work as a busboy, as an employee at Blockbuster and at a car wash. "It was character-building," he later said. Levi spent the early 2000s appearing in a couple of made-for-TV movies, including a supporting roles in "Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie" (FX, 2002), which he followed by appearing in the romantic comedy "See Jane Date" (ABC Family, 2003), playing one of Charisma Carpenter's potential boyfriends. Appearances in various shows followed, with an hilarious turn as a bellman in a 2004 episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO, 2000- ) and a short recurring role in the crime drama "The Division" (Lifetime, 2001-04). After spending several years landing minor acting jobs here and there, Levi finally made strides with his career in 2006 when got a "perfect" role, so to speak. For four seasons, Levi made audiences laugh playing Kipp Steadman, a sarcastic, scheming and highly metrosexual magazine staffer who taunts Sara Rue in the brilliant comedy "Less Than Perfect" (ABC, 2002-06). That same year, Levi appeared on the big screen, playing Martin Lawrence's clumsy FBI partner in "Big Momma's House 2." After "Less than Perfect" was cancelled, Levi starred in a handful of indie films in 2007, including "Imperfect Union," "Ctrl Z," and the thriller "Spiral," which he also executive-produced. The success of "Lost" (ABC, 2004-2010) and "Heroes" (NBC, 2006-2010) paved the way for a crop of shows that blended genres of action, comedy, drama and mystery. One such series was the Josh Schwartz-created "Chuck," about an unsuspecting geek who accidentally downloads a database of international secrets into his brain. Levi, who enjoyed playing video games and had a charming average-Joe personality like his television alter ego, believed his show was so successful because of its mixture of procedural and serial. Levi also related to his character's awkwardness around women. "Chuck" established Levi as a small screen hero for the MySpace generation, and also helped the actor transition into more feature film projects. In 2008, Levi starred in "Shades of Ray," a romantic comedy about a Pakistani-American man about to get married when his long lost father shows up at his doorstep. That same year, he co-starred with "Saturday Night Live" (NBC, 1975- ) actor Keenan Thompson in the road trip comedy "Wieners," then starred alongside Brandon Routh in the testosterone-fueled "Stuntmen." The Disney hit "Tangled" (2010) was a higher-profile use of Levi's vocal talents, which he also put to use on the animated series "Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure" (Disney 2017- ) and several short films. After "Chuck" wound down in 2012, Levi appeared in the small role of Fandrol" in the Marvel films "Thor: The Dark World" (2013) and "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017) and co-starred opposite Eva Longoria on the short-lived sitcom "Telenovela" (NBC 2015). After co-starring in the Canadian miniseries "Alias Grace" (CBC/Netflix 2017) and the series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (Amazon 2017- ), Levi had his biggest breakout yet in the title role of the superhero comedy "Shazam!" (2019), a major box office and critical success.

Credits

Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of MagicStream

Music Performer
Special
2023

Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Extras

Actor
Show
2023

Shazam! Fury of the GodsStream

Actor
Shazam
Movie
2023
49%

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Actor
Movie
2023

Spy Kids: ArmageddonStream

Actor
Terrence Tango
Movie
2023
54%

Chicken Run: Dawn of the NuggetStream

Voice
Rocky
Movie
2023
81%

Sherri

Guest
Talk
2022

Who Do You Think You Are?

Guest
Himself
Show
2022

The Unbreakable Boy

Actor
Movie
2022

Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age ChildhoodStream

Voice
Kranz
Movie
2022
91%

Teddy's Christmas

Voice
Teddy
Movie
2022

American UnderdogStream

Actor
Kurt Warner
Movie
2021
76%

The MauritanianStream

Actor
Neil Buckland
Movie
2021
75%

Kid of the Year

Actor
Show
2020

GMA3: What You Need to Know

Guest
Show
2020

The Kelly Clarkson ShowStream

Guest
Talk
2019

The Kelly Clarkson ShowStream

Music Performer
Talk
2019

2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards

Host
Show
2019

Shazam!Stream

Actor
Shazam
Movie
2019
90%

Today 3rd Hour

Guest
Show
2018

Entertainment Weekly Cast Reunions

Guest
Show
2018

Office Uprising

Actor
Adam Nusbaum
Movie
2018

United We Fan

Self
Movie
2018

Access Live

Guest
Show
2017

She Loves Me

Actor
Georg
Show
2017

Alias GraceStream

Actor
Jeremiah Pontelli
Miniseries
2017
99%

Tangled the Series: Inside the Journal

Actor
Show
2017

SYFY Live From Comic-Con

Host
Show
2017

Live with Kelly and Ryan

Guest
Talk
2017

Tangled: The Series

Voice
Eugene
Show
2017

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

Voice
Eugene
Show
2017

Tangled: The Series: Extras

Actor
Show
2017

The StarStream

Voice
Joseph
Movie
2017
43%

Tangled Before Ever AfterStream

Voice
Eugene
Movie
2017

Psych: The MovieStream

Actor
Thin White Duke
Movie
2017
100%

LEGO Jurassic World: The Indominus Escape

Actor
Show
2016

SYFY Presents: Live From Comic-Con

Guest
Show
2016

The $100,000 PyramidStream

Guest
Game Show
2016

The 70th Annual Tony Awards

Music Performer
Show
2016

APEX: The Story of the Hypercar

Narrator
Movie
2016

Lego Jurassic World: The Indominus Escape

Actor
Dinosaur Man
Movie
2016

TelenovelaStream

Guest Star
James McMahon
Series
2015
64%

The All-Star Dog Rescue Celebration

Guest
Show
2015

Heroes RebornStream

Actor
Luke
Miniseries
2015
42%

The Late Show With Stephen ColbertStream

Guest
Talk
2015

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story

Narrator
Show
2015

Geeks Who DrinkStream

Executive Producer
Game Show
2015

Geeks Who DrinkStream

Host
Game Show
2015

Mr. RobotStream

Actor
Series
2015
94%

The Late Late Show With James CordenStream

Guest
Talk
2015

Hollywood Today Live

Guest
Show
2014

Late Night With Seth MeyersStream

Guest
Talk
2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonStream

Guest
Talk
2014

Hollywood Game Night

Guest
Game Show
2013

Thor: The Dark WorldStream

Actor
Fandral
Movie
2013
67%

Remember SundayStream

Actor
Gus
Movie
2013

Entertainment Studios.TV

Guest
Show
2012

Larry King NowStream

Guest
Talk
2012

Tangled Ever After

Voice
Flynn Rider
Movie
2012

Vietnam in HD

Voice
Show
2011

The Chew

Guest
Talk
2011

Dish Nation

Guest
Talk
2011

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards

Music Performer
Show
2011

ConanStream

Guest
Talk
2010

The Talk

Guest
Talk
2010

Access Hollywood Live

Guest
Show
2010

TangledStream

Voice
Flynn Rider
Movie
2010
89%

Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story

Narrator
Movie
2010

Christmas in Rockefeller Center

Host
Show
2009

Lopez Tonight

Guest
Show
2009

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

Guest
Talk
2009

The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien

Guest
Talk
2009

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Guest
Talk
2009

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The SqueakquelStream

Actor
Toby
Movie
2009
21%

Stuntmen

Actor
Troy Ratowski
Movie
2009

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Guest
Talk
2008

NBC Primetime Preview

Host
Show
2008

The Wendy Williams Show

Guest
Talk
2008

Free Radio

Guest Star
Show
2008

Wieners

Actor
Ben
Movie
2008

Shades of Ray

Actor
Ray Rehman
Movie
2008

ChuckStream

Actor
Chuck Bartowski
Series
2007
90%

ChuckStream

Director
Series
2007
90%

The Tiffany Problem

Actor
Zac
Movie
2007

Spiral

Actor
Berkeley
Movie
2007

Spiral

Executive Producer
Movie
2007

Rachael Ray ShowStream

Guest
Talk
2006

The One Show

Guest
Show
2006

etalk

Guest
Show
2006

Big Momma's House 2Stream

Actor
Kevin
Movie
2006
5%

Entertainment Tonight Canada

Guest
Show
2005

ET Canada

Guest
Show
2005

Robot ChickenStream

Guest Voice
Series
2005

Robot ChickenStream

Voice
Ryu / Ken Masters / Tyg Tiger / Segway
Series
2005

The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson

Guest
Talk
2005

The Soup

Guest
Talk
2004

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Guest
Talk
2003

See Jane Date

Actor
Grant Asher
Movie
2003

Less Than PerfectStream

Actor
Kipp Steadman
Series
2002

Last Call With Carson Daly

Guest
Talk
2002

Family GuyStream

Guest Voice
Seymour/Voice
Series
1999

The View

Guest
Talk
1997

Late Night With Conan O'Brien

Guest
Talk
1993

Late Show With David Letterman

Guest
Talk
1993

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

Guest
Talk
1992

Good Morning America

Guest
News
1975

Great PerformancesStream

Actor
Franchise
1972

Sesame StreetStream

Guest Star
Series
1969

Today

Guest
News
1952

News aboutZachary Levi

Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi in Spy Kids: Armageddon

See Gina Rodriguez & Zachary Levi in Trailer For ‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ (VIDEO)

Tiffany Haddish MTV Movie and TV Awards

Our All-Time Favorite Parodies From the MTV Movie & TV Awards (VIDEO)

Chuck cast

‘Chuck’ Ended 10 Years Ago: Where Are the Stars Now?

mtv zachary levi

‘Shazam!’s Zachary Levi to Host 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards

Zachary Levi at the 2017 NBCUniversal Upfronts

Go Live Inside Comic-Con With Zachary Levi

James Roday and Dulé Hill

Everything We Know So Far About ‘Psych: The Movie’

Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi - 'Tangled Before Ever After'

Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi Preview Their Disney Channel Movie ‘Tangled Before Ever After’

Zachary Levi nerd tubes

Zachary Levi Gets His Geek on for the Sixth Annual Nerd HQ at Comic-Con

TANGLED: BEFORE EVER AFTER

Disney’s ‘Tangled: Before Ever After’ Untangles Life Before Marriage

Heroes Reborn - Judith Shekoni as Joanne Collins, Zachary Levi as Luke Collins

‘Heroes Reborn’ Premiere: Can Luke Be Redeemed? Tim Kring and Zachary Levi Weigh In

FallPreview15_1500x1100

The 10 Most Promising TV Shows of Fall 2015

Heroes Reborn Season 1 Key Art

‘Heroes Reborn’: 7 Newbies Who May Have Superpowers

Judi Sheknoni, Robbie Kay and Zachary Levi

‘Heroes Reborn’ Characters: Meet the Old and the New (PHOTOS)

Zachary Levi of Heroes Reborn

‘Heroes Reborn’s Zachary Levi and Masi Oka Share the Superpowers They Want (VIDEO)

Zachary Levi, Masi Oka

‘Heroes Reborn’: Will the World Survive an Epic Evolutionary War?

Heroes Reborn - Zachary Levi as Luke Collins

‘Heroes Reborn’ Boss Promises “Beginning, Middle and End” To Story

SDCCfpo_1 NYCC SDCC

‘Heroes Reborn’ Trailer Has All the Action You Need

Zachary Levi

Nerd Alert: Zachary Levi Talks ‘Geeks Who Drink’, ‘Heroes Reborn’, Marvel Movies, Comic-Con and More