With theErwin Brothers’American Underdogopening in theaters on Christmas Day, I recently spoke toZachary Leviabout playing former NFL quarterbackKurt Warnerin the biopic. Based on the bookAll Things Possibleby Warner andMichael Silver, the film chronicles Warner’s incredible true story, as he went from stocking shelves at a supermarket to becoming a two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP before being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Written byJon Erwin,David Aaron Cohen,andJon Gunn, the film also pulls back the curtain on what a lot of people don’t know about Warner’s personal life, including how he met his wife Benda (Anna Paquin), the struggles they went through, and the importance of faith, family and determination in their lives. The film also starsDennis Quaid,Adam Baldwin,Bruce McGill,Ser’Darius Blain,Chance Kelly,Morgana Shaw,Brett Varvel, andBryce Bruckbauer.
During the wide-ranging and fun interview, Levi talked about how he got involved in the project, what surprised him about talking with Kurt and Brenda in preparing for the role, filming the barn dance and football scenes, his favorite San Diego Comic-Con memories, his favorite video game console, and more. In addition, he talked about theShazam!sequel,Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and explained why he thinks the sequel will be even better than the first film. He said:
“I will say that I genuinely — and this is not just lip service — I’m really proud of the first one, I think we made a really, really good movie. I think the second one is better. I think that we had more time, we had more budget. We had, essentially, the entire cast returning, and we all knew our characters a little bit more; we could kind of sit into them a little bit more. Henry Gayden, who wrote the first script, wrote the second, and he did a fantastic job doing so. Everything just clicked even a little bit more and a little bit more. And also the kids have grown up a little bit more, so even the sensibilities of them become even slightly more mature which brings it closer to my or other people’s adult minds, so there’s even more connection there, I think. The action’s great, the comedy’s great, the relationships are great. The bad guys,Helen MirrenandLucy Liu, are fantastic. I’m very proud of it. I want it to come out sooner than June of 2023.”
As a huge fan of the firstShazam!, my only complaint is we have to wait till the summer of 2023 to see it.
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Check out what Zachary Levi had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Zachary Levi
