Levi shocked by ‘Tangled’ role - Inscris-toi gratuitement et surfe sans pub !
Levi shocked by ‘Tangled’ role
| ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Many handsome, young actors move to Los Angeles and never get a break. Zachary Levi isn't one of them. The Ventura County, Calif., native has been getting several breaks lately, his voice role in the new Disney film Tangled being the biggest. And no one's more shocked about it than him. "I honestly thought I had no shot at getting this job," says Levi, 30, in an interview at the posh Disneyland Resort. "I thought they would get a much bigger name, as they normally do nowadays to sell tickets, understandably. But I got the job." Even Tangled co-director Nathan Greno admits "there were a number of people that came in -- like, really big-name people" to try out for the voice role of handsome fugitive Flynn Rider, who long, long-haired Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore) clocks on the head with a frying pan numerous times before falling for him in Disney's adventurous CG 3D adaptation of the Brothers Grimm classic. But Greno says, "Really what we were looking for was someone to come in, like Mandy or Zach, who just naturally sounds like the character." The only unnatural part for Levi was being in the studio all by his lonesome. As with most animated films, the actors voicing Tangled -- Disney's 50th feature -- recorded their parts solo. "With voiceover, you're having to create so much of that world in your mind," Levi says. It's still a lot less work than shooting a TV show. Before he assumed the voice of Flynn (who, BTW, is said to be Disney's hunkiest prince ever), Levi was deep into playing the title character on NBC's Chuck, which is days away from airing its Season 4 finale. "It's kind of a mixed blessing only to the extent that it's a barrage show," he says of playing the loveable gadget-geek-turned-special-agent. "It's a lot to have to shoot, and being Chuck in Chuck doesn't really give you a lot of time off." That means little time to seize opportunities such as Tangled. Not that Levi is complaining. Since moving to L.A. after high school -- where the "class clown spaz" honed his musical chops in productions of Grease and The Wizard of Oz -- he has found a steady stream of work, with roles in various TV movies and ABC series Less Than Perfect leading up to his breakout as Chuck. In between, he's landed other voice gigs in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and video games Halo: Reach and Fallout: New Vegas. "I'm really, really blessed," Levi says. "I've been able to work consistently for 10 years. And now, doing (Tangled), it's a bucket list -- I can just check it off. Do a Disney animated musical? Done!" Still on that list? Feature films -- the non-animated kind. "I haven't really been able to break into that world so much," Levi says. "It's a little more humane of a schedule, whereas on Chuck it's just, go go go go go. A lot of times it's one take and you move on, which is not ideal as an actor. "I'd love to play a superhero at some point. I'm a huge comic-book and video-game nerd, and to be able to be like an X-Man or somebody from the DC Universe, or whatever, would be so cool. I'm always jealous of those guys." |
