“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” stars Zachary Levi (Shazam), Rachel Zegler (Anthea), Lucy Liu (Kalypso), Asher Angel (Billy Batson) and Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) discuss their new DC film in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell. Find out some fun behind-the-scenes stories, their thoughts on Henry Cavill’s Superman no-show in “Shazam!” (2019) and more. Plus, Rachel Zegler talks about the most remarkable part, so far, of being a Snow White.
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00:00 - Nice shirt.
00:00 - Thank you, I figured today was the day to wear it.
00:02 - And a members only jacket to boot.
00:04 - I'm rocking the whole thing.
00:05 - Bringing it back to the real world.
00:07 (upbeat music)
00:10 - Is it cool to do this,
00:13 or am I the guy who goes to the concert
00:15 wearing the band's shirt?
00:17 - I like it.
00:17 - You're not at the concert wearing the band's shirt
00:18 all the time.
00:19 - There were so many people that came in with shirts
00:20 that they had like all of the different superheroes.
00:23 And then he was like in there somewhere.
00:24 - 'Cause I was feeling great about it,
00:26 and then everyone was like, oh, you wore Shazam.
00:27 - Who said that?
00:28 - You should feel great about it.
00:29 - I'm just-- - Ew, ew.
00:31 - I know, I know.
00:32 - I'll go beat them up for you, I got powers.
00:33 - I do not feel bad about that.
00:34 - What if I just--
00:35 - You do have powers.
00:36 - You have the dragon?
00:38 - Yeah, the dragon's behind the green screen, watch out.
00:39 - He's in the parking garage.
00:41 - We end this now.
00:43 - I'm glad you brought up the dragon, I wanna start there.
00:44 Of all of the amazing things you've been able
00:47 to see yourself do on screen over the years,
00:49 where does riding on the back of a dragon rank?
00:51 - Check.
00:52 - Done.
00:54 - Done.
00:55 Very exciting.
00:56 And also, I mean, I think that the visual effects
01:00 and how people approach movies now,
01:04 it's so different from when I started
01:05 even on Charlie's Angels.
01:06 And the visual effects of that, the movement of things,
01:11 it's just, it wasn't really possible back then.
01:14 So it's so exciting to be a part of that now,
01:16 and also to be part of the DC universe,
01:18 where bigger, more is more.
01:22 Especially being a part of a sequel.
01:24 - You know, talking about visual effects,
01:25 Rachel, Anne's powers are incredible.
01:27 You know, the way that they are realized.
01:28 At what point in the process do you actually
01:30 get to see what they look like?
01:31 - That's actually what, I can actually do that.
01:33 And it's, I'd like to show you, no.
01:35 - You're gonna try to go out, to go to hospitality,
01:37 you're gonna walk into a wall.
01:38 - Yeah, it's true. - Watch out.
01:39 - I do that anyway. - You never know.
01:40 The wall's gonna walk into you.
01:41 - I do that naturally.
01:42 - Watch out.
01:43 - No, I mean, it was a lot of trust,
01:44 and I was trying to figure out what David wanted
01:48 when we were starting, 'cause I didn't know
01:49 if it was gonna end up being a very WandaVision type beat,
01:52 where it was gonna be as if the world
01:54 was actually in my hands.
01:55 And he was like, "No, just," and I was like, "Oh."
01:57 (laughing)
01:58 Okay. - Those would be more--
01:59 - I had been rehearsing in the car rides
02:02 on the set being like, "Yeah."
02:04 - Like, "I have a thing."
02:05 - Yeah, and he was like, "No, yeah."
02:07 I was like, "I can't do that because my costume would,"
02:10 you remember my shoulder would pop off of my costume.
02:13 I had lines from my costume.
02:15 So it really was like, believing what David was saying.
02:17 He's like, "Yeah, there's gonna be gold spirals
02:19 "on your hand, and then the world's gonna shift
02:21 "and it's gonna move."
02:22 And I'm like, "Okay."
02:23 (laughing)
02:24 - Yeah, okay.
02:25 - Nobody looks great. - Whatever you say.
02:26 No, but I trusted him so much.
02:27 And he was like, "Believe me, it's gonna be great."
02:29 - Right.
02:30 - And it was. - And it does.
02:31 And it looks so sick.
02:32 It really does. - It's very cool.
02:34 - The daughters of Atlas are coming for you.
02:36 (dramatic music)
02:38 - Children stole the power of all the gods.
02:41 - Susanna!
02:42 - This is very personal, Billy.
02:45 - You are very menacing.
02:49 I just want you to know that.
02:50 (grunting)
02:52 - What is it like on set getting your ass kicked
02:54 by Helen Mirren?
02:55 (laughing)
02:57 - A delight.
02:59 An honor.
03:00 Listen, she's a dame.
03:01 Anytime a dame, you get to go do scenes with a dame.
03:04 And they're as cool as Helen Mirren, too.
03:06 I mean, she's the coolest.
03:07 So I was stoked.
03:08 I was so grateful that she signed on to this project.
03:10 - Do those fights get any easier?
03:13 Do they figure out ways to make it a little easier on you?
03:16 'Cause you had some brutal fights in this.
03:17 - We had some brutal fights.
03:19 I don't know, I don't know.
03:20 I mean, they get easier in that you learn
03:22 how to do them at your pace
03:27 and knowing how to not injure yourself.
03:29 And look, we had incredible stunt people
03:32 all the way around us.
03:33 So that's first and foremost.
03:36 And then it's just a matter of knowing your own body
03:38 and listening to it and being like,
03:39 "Hey, is this something that I think I'm capable of doing?
03:41 "Or is this something I need my double to do?"
03:42 Or whatever.
03:43 And thank God we have fantastic doubles.
03:45 (grunting)
03:47 - Ow.
03:49 - You, sir, get a ton of comedic work with Jimon Hounsou.
03:52 - That's the best part.
03:53 - I want a spin-off of you two just going on adventures.
03:55 - Did that?
03:56 - I heard it coming.
03:57 - What is he like as a scene partner?
03:59 - The most fun to razz.
04:00 The most fun to mess with.
04:01 I know that if I can get a laugh out of Jimon,
04:03 I've done something right.
04:04 Because he is like, geez, Oscar winner.
04:08 Crazy, intense actor.
04:10 He's brooding.
04:11 But also he's very warm at heart
04:13 and he gives me great wisdom.
04:15 But they kept it in the movie, I think.
04:18 It's something I improvised.
04:19 I really wanted to get a laugh out of him.
04:20 It's so hard to.
04:22 And if I can do that,
04:23 then I think that's an indication that I'm doing something.
04:25 So, the line where we're in the prison
04:28 and I'm looking through the ground
04:29 to try to find something.
04:31 I find a tooth.
04:32 I'm like, what is this, a tooth?
04:33 And that made him laugh.
04:34 And David was like, what was that tooth line?
04:36 And I was like, oh yeah, can I please say it again?
04:37 And Jimon laughed at it.
04:39 So can I do it again, please?
04:40 And he's like, okay.
04:41 And so I did it every day.
04:43 - Did I keep that?
04:44 - Yeah, it's in the movie.
04:45 - What was that tooth line?
04:46 - I think your drawing at the end is you holding a tooth.
04:49 - Oh, really?
04:50 - Dude, that's so funny.
04:51 - That's great, 'cause I made that up.
04:52 (laughing)
04:53 - Hey, what's up?
04:54 - Hey, Jimon.
04:55 - Lucy, I was watching this scene
04:56 and I'm watching you and Helen Mirren and Jimon Hounsou.
04:58 - Crazy.
04:59 - And I'm like, these incredible actors.
05:00 What does it mean to you to have actors like that
05:02 to ground when it's such fantasy?
05:04 (laughing)
05:05 - Right, yeah.
05:06 - Helen Mirren, I mean, come on.
05:08 - Yeah.
05:09 - And you know, what's great is that we're really,
05:10 yeah, Jimon, I mean, we're bringing to life
05:12 these moments that are real in their world.
05:15 And I think the more serious we play it, the better.
05:18 Because you don't wanna be kind of over the top.
05:21 You wanna be there with them.
05:22 'Cause we're really, you know,
05:24 our intention is to save our world.
05:26 So we have to kind of go in there with it
05:28 and really be real.
05:29 'Cause the more real we are,
05:30 the more the audience can fall into it
05:32 and really be a part of that journey with us.
05:35 - What did the promotion of the first movie
05:38 teach you about Shazam fandom
05:40 and how popular he is with certain comic book readers?
05:43 - You know, it wasn't so much the promoting
05:45 of the first movie, it was just my social media.
05:47 You know, once I was cast as the role,
05:50 lots of people just, you know,
05:54 from all over, the internet is a very strange place.
05:56 You get people weighing in from all corners of it.
05:59 But I, but all, you know,
06:01 lots and lots and lots of positive stuff.
06:03 But you know, people that have been fans
06:06 since Captain Marvel.
06:07 I mean, you know, this character's been around
06:08 since 1938, '39 with Fawcett Comics.
06:11 And then was ultimately, you know, sued by DC
06:14 and then absorbed by DC.
06:15 And you know, he was a Superman kind of cipher,
06:20 if you will.
06:21 And so there's been people that have been a fan
06:23 of the character in the comic for a long, long time.
06:26 And the characters change throughout the years
06:28 in various iterations of the comic.
06:29 So I think the biggest thing is just always trying
06:31 to make sure, you're not gonna be pleasing everybody,
06:33 obviously, but to the extent that you can,
06:35 to the extent that you can figure out how to make a movie
06:37 that is honoring all aspects of the character,
06:40 that's what we've been trying to do.
06:41 - They're dedicated and they're great.
06:42 And they are very kind, more kind than Stephen King fans,
06:47 I'll tell you that much.
06:49 - Really?
06:50 - Well, yeah, they seem nice, but don't buy it.
06:54 - Stephen King fans, they lean a little more
06:56 on the angry side.
06:57 Well, that's not maybe that's, that's right.
06:58 - I'm just messing around.
06:59 - They're also very nice and nerdy and I love,
07:01 and I gel with most.
07:03 - Their passion.
07:03 - Every nerd, and I love passion.
07:04 - Sure.
07:05 - Being a nerd myself.
07:06 So I understand that there's a lot of weight,
07:08 even as a consumer of movies and pop and culture
07:11 and whatever, I do digest things
07:15 and I try to appreciate every form of storytelling.
07:19 And with Shazam, I felt like it was received really well.
07:24 The first one was, and people say that it was
07:26 a refreshing take on the brooding,
07:30 steeled DC path that we've been on for a while.
07:35 To see a superhero who's actually excited
07:37 about being a superhero, rather than begrudgingly
07:40 going out and putting on their cape
07:41 and being like, "Gotta save the world again."
07:42 - Right, right.
07:43 - He's like, he's happy to do it.
07:44 And he's, it's like, it's so giddy and bubbly
07:47 and it's full of levity and it's great.
07:49 You're almost as cool as Superman, almost.
07:50 - There was a scene at the end of the first movie
07:52 that we couldn't talk about at the time
07:53 of Superman coming in.
07:55 Did you guys expect the blowback
07:56 of not showing the face of Superman?
07:58 - People were mad about that, right?
07:59 - Yeah, people were really mad.
08:00 - Or not mad, but they were curious, right?
08:01 - Very curious.
08:02 - Because I think there was a big controversy
08:04 about Henry Cavill, that we were in a liminal space.
08:06 We were in a middle zone.
08:07 - There's a lot going on at the time.
08:08 - And I was like, I don't know, I don't know how I'm going
08:09 to do, I don't know why he's Italian in my impression.
08:13 - Yeah.
08:14 - He's like, I don't know, I don't know what to do with it.
08:16 - I actually think it's funny
08:17 that that's the way that it ended.
08:18 - Yeah.
08:19 - I think it makes sense.
08:20 - I like it too.
08:21 - I like it.
08:22 - It's like, oh.
08:23 - It's stylistic and then just it ends on a--
08:23 - 'Cause you really don't know, is it Henry Cavill?
08:25 Is it something like, you don't really know who it is
08:26 and it kind of sets up the future.
08:27 Like, what's gonna happen in the future?
08:28 Who's gonna be Superman?
08:29 - Yeah.
08:30 - So.
08:31 - Does it look anything like Henry Cavill?
08:32 - A little bit, yeah, he's an Australian guy.
08:34 Super handsome, super duper handsome.
08:36 Australian stunt man, yeah.
08:38 - Was it?
08:38 - Yeah.
08:39 - That's awesome.
08:40 - I think his name's something like Calvin or something.
08:41 And I was like, Henry Cavill, Calvin, funny.
08:44 - Probably something Italian.
08:45 - Yeah.
08:46 (laughing)
08:46 (laughing)
08:48 - I don't think there's ever gonna be a cooler shot
08:50 in any of these Shazam movies
08:51 than you jumping off of the roof.
08:52 - I agree, that's kind of like movie cinema history greatness.
08:55 - Yeah, seriously.
08:55 - It's so badass.
08:57 What do you remember about filming that spot?
08:59 - That was my favorite scene to shoot by far.
09:01 Yeah, I mean, David asked me to just do the stunt
09:06 and they built this huge rooftop in the stages
09:09 and I got to jump off of it with the paddings underneath
09:12 and do this scorpion move that David wanted me to do.
09:15 Just like, really just this iconic move.
09:17 - It's kind of like a Billy Elliot moment too.
09:18 - Yeah, literally.
09:19 I just, I don't know.
09:21 That was the most, watching that on the big screen
09:24 for the first time was like,
09:25 or even seeing it in the trailer was so like,
09:28 wow, I can't believe I did that.
09:30 I love my life.
09:31 (dramatic music)
09:34 - Rachel, what has been the coolest aspect so far
09:39 of stepping into the Disney Princess world?
09:41 - Oh gosh, seeing little kids dressed up as Snow White
09:44 makes me sob my eyes out.
09:46 I can't, like I go to the parks and I'm like.
09:48 (laughing)
09:50 - She just cries.
09:50 - I do, and my best friend is like, are you good?
09:53 I'm like, no.
09:54 No, I went with my publicist, Ashton, we were in Paris
09:57 and I was--
09:58 - Wait 'til it comes out.
09:59 - I know, when it's like my version of the dress,
10:01 it's like my, oh no I can't.
10:02 - How was it much different?
10:04 - I mean, it was a, it's a.
10:06 (laughing)
10:08 I did get paparazzi'd and it was terrifying.
10:11 I was like in the woods in London
10:13 and all of a sudden a guy with a camera pops out
10:15 and I'm like, what are you doing here?
10:17 And I'm just chilling with my, I was wearing like UGG boots.
10:19 - He's like, hello mate.
10:20 - And listening to music, literally, he's like,
10:22 hey, it's me from the Daily Mail.
10:24 And I had like clips in my hair,
10:26 I didn't look very Disney princess at all,
10:27 but I was wearing the dress.
10:29 And when I see kids in that dress, I just can't.
10:31 It's so amazing, it's such an amazing thing.
10:34 - It's incredible.
10:35 - People dress up as you all the time, I'm sure,
10:36 like your character from Charlie's Angels or Kill Bill.
10:38 - Kill Bill.
10:39 - They must.
10:40 - I have not seen it.
10:42 - That's insane.
10:43 - Next time come in a--
10:43 - I mean, the Kill Bill tracksuit is very popular.
10:45 - Yeah, the Kill Bill tracksuit is very popular.
10:48 - But that's not me.
10:49 - No, it's not.
10:50 - Well, I'll dress up as you.
10:51 - We don't do tracksuit in the Oran Ishii world.
10:55 - Okay, write that down. - You got it.