Zachary Levi gets candid about his mental health at Comic-Con in San Diego. Image Source: THR
Zachary Levi gets candid about his mental health at Comic-Con in San Diego.
Actor Zachary Levi, who will be seen in Shazam! Fury of the Gods spoke to Entertainment Tonight’s Matt Cohen about his mental health, discussing his full-on mental breakdown in 2017 before he signed up for Shazam.
The actor said that he has been struggling with clinical depression at various times and with anxiety his whole life, and he had this total breakdown and went into a life-changing and life-saving thing called therapy. Zachary went on to say that therapy helped him figure out what was going on, how he got there, why he ended up being the person he was, and that he got the help he needed.
Zachary Levi shared with Matt Cohen that, according to him, there are so many problems in the world, but if a person can trace all those problems back to their roots, it’s somebody’s broken heart or broken mind, and he added that every bad thing that goes on in the world can be corrected. The actor said that if people focus on healing themselves, their minds, and their hearts and start trying to figure out how to truly love themselves and how to love other people, the world could be a better place.
Zachary Levi is busy promoting the upcoming film Shazam! and mentioning that they had more time and money for this film than they had for the first, which was somewhat untested because the public only knew Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, and few of them understood who Shazam was. The actor continued by saying that everyone was interested in seeing how the movie would perform and that they were a type of "little engine that could." There is now greater trust in them as a franchise because of how well they had performed back then with the first movie.
Zachary expressed the appreciation and support from Warner Bros. and their belief in their movie, as seen by the fact that they gave the movie extra time, money, and snazzy new clothes. The 41-year-old actor claimed that everyone was eager to return to the characters and explore them in greater depth and detail.
Speaking about being at Comic-Con, Zachary said that he is very grateful to be in San Diego and at Comic-Con and added that he is just super grateful that he has a career that he had dreamt of his entire life and being at Comic-Con and building a really lovely connection with the fans is something he looks forward to. The actor stated that it feels like their hard work has finally paid off and just being able to stand there on stage and tell everyone that they love them and appreciate them means so much and added that it’s dope.
This is not the first time the actor has spoken about his mental health as Zachary Levi discussed his mental health in June and revealed that his memoir, "Radical Love: Learning To Accept Yourself and Others," is based on his experiences and how he has since discovered a place where he can completely practice self-love. When he suffered a mental breakdown at the age of 37, he admitted at the time that it was difficult for him to pinpoint what exactly was wrong, which caused a dangerous downward spiral. The situation was so critical that he sought treatment for three weeks after being overcome with suicidal thoughts.
After the trailer was premiered in Hall H, Zachary Levi said at the end of the last movie, the audience got this cool look at all the kids getting their superpowers, which was so much fun. Now, it's been a couple of years, and they have all been flying around, doing different missions, trying to help the city of Philadelphia and the rest of the world, but again, they are all still kind of learning how to do that and trying to figure out themselves along the way.
During the interview, Lucy Liu who also appears in the film as the Goddess Calypso discussed her sentiments about joining the Shazam ensemble and attending Comic-Con. She said that being a member of the DC Universe is one of the most thrilling elements of her career and that she loves portraying a goddess. The actress remarked that it was a privilege for her to be a part of something so exceptional and that she feels at home where she is.
In a discussion about superheroes and diversity in representation on screen, Lucy Liu expressed her belief that the superhero universe is about belonging and being a part of that. She also noted that the fact that everyone is now included makes that world significantly larger and that diversity count is something that people are increasingly realizing. The actress is grateful for her representation on the big screen and is looking forward to see how audience reacts to the movie.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods will hit theaters on Dec. 21.
