Celebrity Jobber with Jeff Zito - Zachary Levi

0:00Hey, it's Jeff Zito, thanks for checking out another episode of the Celebrity Chopper Podcast number five this week on the Apple Podcast Music Interviews Chart and number one in Norway, which is really wacky, isn't it? We're streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. So please hit that subscribe button. Thank you very much. If you like what you hear, please leave a five star rating and a comment and or a review. If you want to hear older episodes, you can go to celebrityjobber.com and every Wednesday we release an earlier episode, one that you might have missed from the early days before we had a lot of listeners. Celebrity Jobber Rewind. This past Wednesday episode number 64, featuring Sticks guitarist Tommy Shaw. So be sure to check it out. Who were these people before they made it big? Who were their parents?

1:00What did they do for work? What about that big moment that changed their life forever? Their lucky break or their big break? What was it? How about some of the jobs they had before they were famous? My guest today, Zachary Levi starred in the action comedy Chuck on NBC. He also played the role of Kurt Warner in that movie that came out a couple of years ago, American Underdog. And now starring opposite of Liam Neeson in the new film The Fix, which just hit theaters nationwide today. We're going to find out a little bit more about actor Zachary Levi, who is my guest this week on celebrity jobber. The celebrity jobber podcast with Jeff Zeta. If you like what you hear, please subscribe, give a five star rating, and leave a review. Check out all our past episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you put it. What if these celebrities weren't famous? What would they have become? What was their first job? We're about to find out.

2:02Hey Zachary, I just saw you promoting your new film The Fix a couple of days ago on the Today Show with Liam Neeson. He seems like a pretty intense guy, huh? No, he's really not honestly. He plays a great intense character. He has many times over, but he's very chill to be honest. He's really grounded, really humble, really human, and a great, great personal work with. Yeah, I have only seen him in these kind of action thrillers. I've never seen him in a comedy or anything like that. The Fix hitting theaters today, the premise without giving anything away, your character dismissed from the CIA following the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan. And years later, the band gets back together to pull off this heist where 25 million bucks are secretly hidden in a wall of some hotel in Tehran. I don't see a lot of movies like this being made

3:05anymore. Oh, I don't think so. No, I think there's plenty of movies just like this that are very, very popular. I mean, it's really to me, it's all about are they excellent or are they not? And, you know, unfortunately, there's a lot of genres, whether it's action or comedy or romance or you know, horror or whatever, that there's just a lot of not excellent things. And then within every genre, there's a lot of excellent versions of that as well. And that's what we've seemed to do. We're excited for people to go see this weekend. Yeah, I was watching the trailer a few different times. And I guess the reason that I say that is because I guess this is a little bit of a combination of, you know, this is not real life, correct? This is a fictional story because it looks like real life events actually happened. Yeah, no, I mean, it is a fictional story, but it is an amalgamation of a lot of true stories or lore that's been bandied about within special operations groups for a

4:07long time. You know, there are missions very similar to what we go on in the film. They're just not those specific missions. And it really seems like it tackles the PTSD. I mean, just like a really important day for this to come out today on 9-11 and how this story really looks like it focuses on some of these people, these heroes, their struggle after the mission, after the job that maybe we don't get to hear about. Yeah, no, it's one of the reasons I really enjoyed the script and why I want to be a part of it is because it wasn't just an action, you know, a military action, heist thriller, which it is, but there's a human element that that underpins all of it. And it grounds it and it shows you that there is a cost to all of this of living a life like this and being involved in missions like this. And Zach, you're not just starring in the movie. You're actually one of the producers in this film and tell me what does the role of the producer actually

5:10entail? Yeah, I try to, every time I do a film or project these days, I'm always trying to, if I can, attach myself as a producer so I can help it as much as I can to guide it as much as I can to ensure it's excellence. Not just in, you know, what are we making as a film, but also are we honoring everyone who's working on the film? Are we taking care of people? Are we making sure that they're fed well? And they, you know, we're not killing people with the crazy hours that we're shooting. I mean, it, making a movie is a lot. It can be very arduous. And so I really care about humans and I care about every human who is involved in the projects that I'm in and I want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and kindly and, you know, valued. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, Zach? I know you were born in Lake Charles, Louisiana and your family moved around a lot and you settled in California. What did your mom and dad have jobs that

6:12made you travel? What kind of occupations did they have? Yeah, my dad, he used to work for a company that manufactured kind of giant welding equipment, essentially like really high level welding equipment. And so he had location jobs that pulled them around the country a good bit and that's why I was born in Lake Charles. My dad just happened to be working there when I popped out. So my mom grew up in Southern California and so we went back there and that's where I spent most of my childhood and then lived in LA for 15 years and now been in Austin, Texas almost 10. Oh wow. At six years old, you started acting. Mom and dad, as you mentioned, they had like normal jobs like regular, not in show business is what I mean by that. So how did this happen? Well, I just, I mean, I don't know. Ever since I was a little kid, I knew I was going to be an actor. I just knew it. I didn't know as if that was something that got it and printed on my soul. Like this is your calling. This is your path. And then that started with just, you know, being a ham, really. And then I then I found feeder as a kid and I did school feeder and community feeder and that ultimately led to doors

7:15opening and me getting the opportunity to start working in Hollywood. And that was almost 30 years ago now. So been quite the journey. The celebrity jobber podcast with Jeff Cito. The celebrity jobber podcast with Jeff Cito. Was there a particular person or like you're just like one day wake up and say, Hey, I want to do that. I want to be an actor. Was there something that you saw that triggered this? What was it? No, I think it was, I think at a very young age, I recognize that I, I could intentionally make someone laugh and a laughing smiling person felt good on the inside. And I thought, that's it. Like I want to do that for the rest of my, I want to make people feel good. You know, and that started as comedy and that kind of stuff. And then that led into then being a more serious actor and recognizing it's not just about making people laugh sometimes, it's about evoking emotion and making them cry and like having them see something really serious in a new way. And, and I think all of that is important for the human soul. And so as an

8:16actor, we get to be a part of guiding people through that. Yeah, it's very interesting. Did anything like your focus ever shift? You're telling me six years old. I want to be an actor. I mean, bam, I didn't know what I wanted to major in in college when I was 18 years old. So I feel like I'm like you are really ahead ahead of the curve here as a little kid. But did it shift? Did you pivot? Was it acting? What you mentioned you like to make people laugh? So was it stand-up comedy? Was it just performing? No, I mean, it's entertaining in general. It's acting and singing, it's stand-up comedy. It's whatever God allows me to do with the talent that I've been given to go and entertain people and bring, you know, a little levity sometimes. Or again, you know, shine a light on something important. But I've always felt I've just always known that in my soul. Yeah, I'm always impressed by by that. When I hear people in your business or maybe, you know, they're just performers or entertainers, famous people, a lot of them have this thing at an early

9:20age where they see it. And that's it. There's no backup plan. It's like you're all in like Shark Tank. And I find it very interesting because like I mentioned to you earlier, when I was 18 years old and going to college, I had no idea what I was going to major in. Somebody like you makes the decision at six years old and I'm asking you did things ever shift? Did you ever pivot? And you're saying no, I just, yeah, I find it. I find it absolutely fascinating. So what about high school where your grades good in high school? And did you go to college to pursue acting career? No, my grades were, my grades were, you know, pretty good in high school given that I didn't put as much effort into all of that. I should have probably, but knowing that I wanted to be an actor and I knew that I didn't need college to do that. I mean, you can. You can go to Carnegie Mellon or NYU or lots of, you know, incredible places. But I talked to people to go to college to get,

10:24you know, theater degrees and they basically all said it didn't really serve me. It didn't really help me and I just ended up in student loan debt. And so no, I did not go to college for it. I graduated high school. I went to one week of Community College in Ventura, California. And it wasn't getting me any closer to where I needed to get. So I just, you know, worked out jobs and did theater and was very blessed that somebody saw me in a community theater production that then got me to a manager who got me to a casting director, who got me to an agent. And the rest of the history, right? The rest of the history from there. Tell me, can you tell me about some of those odd jobs? I always, I always find it interesting hearing, you know, when people are, you know, working towards this goal and they're, you know, 24 seven just working at this goal that, you know, they're not making the money. They're not, they haven't hit it yet. So you got to do what you got to do to pay the bills. So can you tell me about some of those odd jobs between when you

11:27quit Community College after a week and when you got your first big role, big paycheck? I mean, I guess most notably, probably, busing tables at various restaurants and working at a car wash. I worked at a car wash for a few years, just, you know, prepping cars, vacuuming cars, uh, what, what, drying down cars and all kinds of stuff, working for tips. It's, uh, it's very character building. Now, let me tell you, yeah, we, and, you know, we all got to do it at some point and what was your first job? You remember your, your very first paying job and then I want to know what your first professional acting job was? Uh, my very, I mean, I think working at the car wash was probably my first job. Uh, and then first paying acting gig was I did a pilot for a sitcom that never got picked up, but it was great. You know, I was like, okay, I'm working. And then then I share another pilot and then I share another pilot that got picked up and then I was on a series called Less Than Perfect on NBC. I remember that. King, you tell me about the moment that

12:31everything changed for you. The Celebrity Jobber podcast with Jeff Cito. Celebrity Jobber. King, you tell me about the moment that everything changed for you. You know, this was it. You weren't going backwards. You weren't washing cars anymore. Things were going to be different for you going forward. Can you remember that phone call that specific incident, that big break for lack of a better term? What was it that happened to you that changed your life forever? I don't know. I mean, to be honest, in some ways, I don't even know that I've gotten there yet. I've been so blessed and I've gotten to work a lot, but it's a very tumultuous business. You're never really like set. But I would say, you know, probably Chuck was the first show that I was the leader than that was, you know, nationally seen and recognized. And Less Than Perfect was a national show as well. And people definitely saw it, but I wasn't the leader of that and we didn't quite have the viewership. The Chuck had chucked it. So I would say Chuck probably. Yes, I remember Chuck. That was a big show. That movie you started in a few years ago where you played the role of Kurt Warner,

13:36American underdog. Yeah. That movie to me was very powerful. The very beginning. Your character's a little kid. Kurt Warner's a little kid. And he starts breaking down how many athletes there are in high school, how many there are in college. And then how many of those make it to the pros, how many of those are quarterbacks, how many play in the Super Bowl and how many are Super Bowl MVP. So your goal and your dream is nearly impossible. Such an incredible story. I urge everybody to see the movie American underdog if you hadn't had a chance to see it yet. How closely did you work in that film with Kurt Warner? I mean, yeah, Kurt is a wonderful human being and his wife Brenda is a wonderful human being and their story is miraculous, you know. And inspiring. And so getting to tell that story was really cool. Getting to train to be a quarterback, learn more about what that life is all about, learn about Kurt and Brenda's story together and bring that to audiences. And what I

14:41really, you know, I'm proud of. I think it's a really solid movie. So it was awesome. And the fact that the Rams won the Super Bowl the same year that the movie came out was pretty cool. How about that? Kind of crazy how stuff like that ends up working out, isn't it? Zachary, not just an actor, you have all these different jobs. The new film that's in theaters today, the fix Zachary not only stars in the film, but he is a producer on the film. You've got your own production company called Wildwood Productions. You're also a singer. You've done duets with both Catherine McVeigh from American Idol and Mandy Moore. You're an avid gamer. And you started your own company, The Nerd Machine. Can you tell me a little bit about what you want to do with that? Yeah, in the gaming, I mean, listen, I love gaming and I would love to produce some cool games and stories. I think games are the most immersive storytelling that we have to offer people right now. And I think there's a lot of things that we can do to make those even more interesting. I think it's great. All the different things that you do once again, the fix is in theaters today. Zachary Levi was really

15:46great talking to him and thanks so much. Absolutely. Have a great day. You know, kind of crazy with all the different jobs that he does behind the scenes and show business, gaming. He had no idea he was a singer, but if he wanted to be an actor since he was six years old and we talked a little bit earlier about if he ever had to pivot, you know, take different directions. And he basically said he just he wanted to be a performer, whether it was stand-up comedy or singing or theater. At a very early age, he felt like he had the ability to make people laugh and he loved that feeling. Six years old, he decided that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to become an actor. Didn't go to school for it. Said his grades were decent in high school. One week of community college and he figured college wasn't for him and he was going to start auditioning right away. Try to become an actor. You know, but there were those years, you know, where he had to pay the bills. So he talked about busing tables and washing cars. That was his first paying job like at an actual car

16:49wash, which he said was very character building. Yes, I've had jobs like that myself. I think we all have said his big break was getting the lead in the NBC show Chuck. He said that was the role that pretty much changed his life. You know, ran for five seasons. Like I said, Zach played the lead role of Chuck, who was like a computer whiz kid who accidentally downloaded some massive database of US spy secrets and then ends up working with the CIA. And like I said, it ran for five seasons. Zachary played the lead. Yeah, it was a pretty big show. It ran from 2007 to 2012. Yeah, he said that was pretty much the moment where everything changed for him. But I also thought it was interesting that he said he doesn't think his big break moment actually has happened to him yet. Isn't that something? Well, he's got a lot of irons in the fire currently starring in the fix with Liam

17:50Zackery also one of the producers of the film and hit theaters nationwide today. And check out the trailer and for what it's worth, it looks like a really, really awesome movie. Well, thanks once again for checking out another episode of the celebrity jobber podcast. Number five today on the Apple Podcast Music interviews chart. Also number one in Norway. What's the deal with Norway? Thank you Norway. Streaming on Apple Podcast Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts, please hit that subscribe button. And if you like what you hear would love a five star rating if you could, leave a comment and or a review. All our past guests and episodes on celebrity jobber.com. And we highlight one of our earlier episodes every Wednesday celebrity jobber rewind. Taking a look at these people before fame, who were they? Some people know what they want to do at an early age, which I find incredible. My old man always tells a story that he came home from

18:52school one day and told his mother, I want to be an architect. And he was like in sixth grade or something and my dad ended up becoming an architect. I think it's pretty crazy. Once again, thanks for listening. I'm Jeff Zito. We'll see you next week here on the celebrity jobber podcast.