Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito - Zachary Levi

Celebrity Jobber Podcast with Jeff Zito

In this episode of the Celebrity Jobber Podcast, host Jeff Zito interviews actor Zachary Levi, known for his roles in 'Chuck,' 'Shazam!,' an

Key takeaways

• Zachary Levi knew he wanted to be an actor by age six, driven by the desire to make people laugh and feel good.
• Levi's big break came with the lead role in NBC's 'Chuck,' which ran for five seasons and transformed his career.

Main topics

• Zachary Levi's early life and family background
• His journey from childhood performances to professional acting

Notable quotes

"I just knew I was going to be an actor. I didn't know if that was something that God had imprinted on my soul."

Conclusion

Zachary Levi's story illustrates the power of early passion, resilienc

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:03) Hey, it's Jeff Zito. Thanks for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Jobber Podcast, number five this week on the Apple Podcast Music Interviews Chart and number one in Norway, which is really wacky, isn't it? We're streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. So please hit that subscribe button. Thank you very much. If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star rating and a comment and or a review. If you want to hear older episodes, you can go to celebrityjobber.com. And every Wednesday, we release an earlier episode, one that you might have missed from the early days before we had a lot of listeners. Celebrity Jobber Rewind. This past Wednesday, episode number 64 featuring Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw. So be sure to check it out. Who were these people before they made it big? Who were their parents? What did they do for work? What about that big moment that changed their life forever? Their lucky break or their big break? What was it? How about some of the jobs they had before they were famous? My guest today, Zachary Levi, starred in the action comedy Chuck on NBC. He also played the role of Kurt Warner. In that movie that came out a couple of years ago, American Underdog. And now starring opposite of Liam Neeson in the new film The Fix, which just hit theaters nationwide today. We're Speaker 2 (1:34) going Speaker 3 (1:34) to find out a little bit more about actor Zachary Levi, who is my guest this week on Celebrity Jobber. The Speaker 2 (1:42) Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Zito. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five-star rating, and leave a review. Check out all our past episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you pod. What if these celebrities weren't famous? What would they have become? What was their first job? We're about to find out. Speaker 3 (2:02) Hey, Zachary, I just saw you promoting your new film, The Fix, a couple of days ago on the Today Show with Liam Neeson. He seems like a pretty intense guy, huh? Speaker 1 (2:12) No, no, he's really not, honestly. I mean, he's... He plays a great, intense character. It hasn't been many times over, but he's very chill, to be honest. He's really grounded, really humble, really human, and a great, great... Speaker 3 (2:28) Yeah, you know, I have only seen him in these kind of action thrillers. I've never seen him in a comedy or anything like that. The Fix hitting theaters today, the premise without giving anything away. Your character dismissed from the CIA following the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. And years later, the band gets back together. to pull off this heist where 25 million bucks are secretly hidden in a wall of some hotel in Tehran. I don't see a lot of movies like this being made anymore. Speaker 1 (3:06) Oh, I don't think so, no. I think there's plenty of movies just like this that are very, very popular. I mean, it's really, to me, it's all about are they excellent or are they not? And, you know, unfortunately, there's a lot of genres, whether it's action or comedy or romance or... you know, a whole lot of not excellent things. And then within every genre, there's a lot of excellent versions of that as well. And that's what we've deemed to do. And we're excited for people to go see this weekend. Speaker 3 (3:36) Yeah, I was watching the trailer a few different times. And I guess the reason that I say that is because I guess this is a little bit of a combination of, you know, this is not real life, correct? This is a fictional story because it looks like real life events actually happened. Speaker 1 (3:55) Yeah, no, I mean, it is a fictional story, but it is an amalgamation of a lot of true stories or lore that's been bandied about within special operations groups for a long time. You know, there are missions very similar to what we go on in the film. They're just not those specific missions. Speaker 3 (4:14) And it really seems like it tackles the PTSD. I mean, just like a really important day for this to come out today. on 9-11 and how this story really looks like it focuses on some of these people, these heroes, their struggle after the mission, after the job that maybe we don't get to hear about. Speaker 1 (4:36) Yeah. The reasons I really enjoy and why I want to be a part of it is because it wasn't just an action, you know, a military action heist. But there's a human element that underpins all of it, and it grounds it, and it shows you that there is a cost to all of this, of living a life like this and being involved in missions. And Speaker 3 (4:57) Zach, you're not just starring in the movie, you're actually one of the producers in this film. And tell me, what does the role of the producer actually entail? Speaker 1 (5:10) Yeah, I try to, every time I do a film or a project these days, I'm always trying to, if I can,