Zachary Levi auditioned for the role of Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy

Zachary Levi plays Shazam in the DCEU and Fandral in the MCU. He recently said that he failed in the audition for the role of Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, but ended up getting the role of Shazam by accident.

Levi said: "James Gunn is my good friend. We often have some game nights at each other's homes. We also have many mutual friends. One day he asked me to come over and read Star-Lord's lines, and then it came to the audition stage."

"I actually wanted this role so badly. In the end, it was just me, another actor, and Chris Pratt. They liked Chris more, but Chris was hesitant about taking the role. It's easy to understand. After all, Marvel is such a big name. No one knows what will happen if they don't perform well after taking the role, and whether it will affect their future acting career. There are many things to consider."

"In the end, he decided to take the role, and I had no chance. But I still hope that I can leave a good impression on James, so that when I audition for the Shazam project produced by his friend Peter Safran, it will have a lot of extra points. This is how the industry works."

"The good thing is that I have a good relationship with James, and I try to be nice to a lot of people and try to be a decent person, and I think James felt that I did a good job in the Star-Lord audition, and he was like, 'Man, you really should give Zachary a chance. I really think he's going to be great.'"

"Was it this audition that led to a follow-up opportunity? I don't know, but I'm sure it will be a part of the negotiation. I'm grateful to James for trusting me and being able to pass on this information for me."

Levy has currently completed filming of Shazam: Wrath of the Gods, and Pratt is also currently filming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, both of which will be released in 2023.