Acting Levi first appeared in the
Showtime/Goosehead.com series,
Whatever, as a teenage boy, Ben. He was credited as Zachary Pugh. The series was produced by Ashley Powers and released in 2000. Levi was next seen in the
FX television film
Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie. He played Kipp Steadman on the
ABC sitcom
Less than Perfect. He also portrayed a potential boyfriend of
Charisma Carpenter's character, Jane, in the then-
ABC Family television film
See Jane Date. Levi was slated to be a lead in an ABC pilot called
Three for the 2004/2005 television season, but the show was not picked up. He landed the
starring role in
Chuck in 2007. Levi and his
Chuck co-star
Yvonne Strahovski were both nominated for Best Action Actor and Actress Choice TV Series for the
Teen Choice Awards 2010 where they both won and presented. In the summer of 2008, he was named one of ''
Entertainment Weekly's
Top Thirty People Under Thirty. He later starred in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' in the lead role as Dave's cousin Toby Seville. He starred in the 2010
Disney-animated feature film
Tangled, which is based on the popular fairy tale
Rapunzel. He voices Flynn Rider, a bandit who finds refuge in Rapunzel's tower. He provided narration in the 2011 film
Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story, a documentary about the game of
Monopoly. Levi hosted the 2011
Spike Video Game Awards. in February 2011
BuddyTV ranked Levi as #97 on its list of "TV's Sexiest Men of 2011". He landed the male lead in the 2012 TV pilot
Let It Go, which would have aired on
Fox, but was not picked up. He hosted the web documentaries
Tomb Raider The Final Hours, going behind the scenes of the new
Tomb Raider game. He was originally to portray Fandral in
Thor, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with
Chuck. He did play the role in the sequels,
Thor: The Dark World (2013), after original actor
Josh Dallas had scheduling conflicts of his own, and briefly in
Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Levi made his Broadway debut in a production of the musical comedy
First Date in August 2013. In January 2015, it was announced that Levi would be a lead member of the cast of
NBC's 13-episode miniseries
Heroes Reborn as Luke Collins. The show was not picked up for a second season. He also guest-starred as
Abraham Lincoln in the
Hulu original series
Deadbeat. Levi joined the cast of the
Broadway revival of
She Loves Me in the lead role of Georg, alongside
Laura Benanti as Amalia. It opened at
Studio 54 on March 17, 2016, after previews on February 19, 2016, for a limited engagement through June 12. The run was later extended through July 10, when it closed. The production received high critical praise, receiving 5 Stars from
The Guardian and was selected as a Critics' Pick for
The New York Times. Levi was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance. Critics praised Levi's performance of Georg, noting that his portrayal is "suave and handsome at times, disarmingly nebbishy at others," and that he "[exudes] sweet modesty and just a pinch of hauteur." The production had a historic
livestreamed performance on June 30, 2016, with Levi and the cast participating in the first livestreamed show in Broadway history. In 2017, Levi reprised his role as Flynn Rider in a
Disney Channel original film titled
Tangled: Before Ever After. The television movie continues the story as a regular series titled ''
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, which lasted for three seasons, premiering on March 24, 2017, and concluding March 1, 2020. The series is based on the 2010 film Tangled'' and features the returning voices of
Mandy Moore and Levi. In 2018, Levi appeared as Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg, a love interest for the main character, Miriam 'Midge' Maisel, in the second season of
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. With the series' other principal cast members, Levi won the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series at SAG's January 2019 awards ceremony. In 2019, Levi starred as the main character in
New Line Cinema and
Warner Bros.' superhero comedy feature film
Shazam!, an entry in the
DC Extended Universe franchise. In the film, Levi's
Shazam character (also known as
Captain Marvel) is the superpowered alter-ego of a teenaged boy, Billy Batson (played by
Asher Angel), who retains his childish personality in his adult form similar to the 1988 20th Century Fox comedy
Big. After a nearly two-year hiatus from acting, Levi starred in a supporting role in
Kevin Macdonald's 2021 legal drama,
The Mauritanian. Levi also played the role of
Kurt Warner in the biographical sports drama
American Underdog that same year. In 2023, he reprised his role as Billy Batson in
Shazam! Fury of the Gods, played the character of Terrence Tango-Torrez in
Spy Kids: Armageddon opposite
Gina Rodriguez and voiced Rocky in
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, replacing
Mel Gibson. In 2024, Levi starred in
the film adaptation of
Harold and the Purple Crayon, playing a grown-up version of the titular character. In 2025, Levi portrayed the author Scott LeRette, the father of a child with
osteogenesis imperfecta, in
The Unbreakable Boy. Also in 2025, Levi portrayed the character of Bert Smith, a charming, silver-tongued, and opportunistic wildcatter who initially appears self-centered but undergoes a transformation. He is an intelligent and resourceful hustler who becomes an unlikely ally to Sarah Rector, ultimately being changed by her strong faith and determination to protect her land in the film
Sarah's Oil. In late 2025, he played the character of Nick Schuyler in the drama movie Not Without Hope. In early 2026, Zachary Levi hosted a four-part docu-drama on Fox Nation. The series chronicles the biblical story of David, focusing on his rise from shepherd to king, the battle with Goliath, and his journey as a flawed, human leader, aiming to highlight themes of faith, redemption, and divine love.
Music In April 2010,
Katharine McPhee released a preview of a music video to cinemas for her single "
Terrified". Levi and McPhee have a duet on the song (which was re-recorded; the original album version features
Jason Reeves) and appears in the music video singing with McPhee. On May 3, 2010, the song was previewed on the
Entertainment Weekly website and made available for purchase on
iTunes. The full video premiered May 7, 2010, on the music video website
Vevo. Levi financed
Kendall Payne's album
Grown after she was dropped by her label,
Capitol Records. On the soundtrack of the film
Tangled, Levi sings "I See the Light" (with costar Mandy Moore) and "
I've Got a Dream". For the film receiving a
Oscar for Best Original Song nomination, Levi and Moore performed "I See the Light" at the
83rd Academy Awards. Levi has also been a guest member of
Band from TV, a band made up of actors from various American television shows. On December 21, 2023, Levi performed
Jolly Holiday from the 1964 film
Mary Poppins on the primetime
CBS special
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic.
Producing Levi launched a production company called Wyldwood Productions in 2020. Director Zach Ramelan directed two narrative short films for the studio in 2020:
Freelancer in February and
The Statement starring Levi in May. In 2023, the studio co-produced the sixty-second episode of
The FilmUp Podcast which is about Levi's life, career, and future plans. Wyldwood released its first theatrical feature film, ''
Sarah's Oil'', in partnership with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2025. ==Personal life==