Zachary Levi has made quite a few fans from his portrayal of DC hero Shazam, but things could have been a lot different if he had been cast as Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. While Levi has appeared in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe as Fandral in Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, he just missed out on landing the role that would eventually go to Chris Pratt in the Guardians of the Galaxy series of movies, but the actor believes that the audition process he went through with Marvel helped him eventually land his lead role in DC’s Shazam!.

Speaking on The Fourth Wall podcast, Zachary Levi recalled how he made it to the final three for the role of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, and the audition, along with a little help his relationship with director James Gunn, is what he credits for landing the role of Shazam.

“James [Gunn] and I knew each other, we were friends, we would have game nights at each other’s homes, had a lot of mutual friends. And so he had asked me to come in and read for Star-Lord, and I did, and then that led to the next step, and then all of a sudden I was camera testing,” Levi explaineda about the Guardians of the Galaxy role. “Oh man, I wanted that role so bad, like so, so, so, so bad. It came down to me, one other guy, and Chris Pratt, but Chris was always their favorite and he was hesitant to take it, which is understandable, I mean it’s a big franchise thing, it’s Marvel, does it work out, does it not work out? Is this what everyone is going to know me as for the rest of my life? All of those things that go through your head.”

He went on, “But eventually, and I think smartly, he decided to take the job and so it didn’t go my way or anyone else’s way for that matter, but I hoped I left enough of a good impression with James that when I was auditioning for ‘Shazam,’ and his very dear friend, and manager, and sometimes producing partner, Peter Safran, calls up James Gunn because this is how our industry works…Fortunately, I was in good standing with James, I try to be in good standing with as many people as I can be and try to be a decent person, and I think between that and how well James thought I did in the Star-Lord test, he said, ‘Yeah man, you really should give Zach an opportunity at this. I really think he could be great.’ Was that the thing that sent it all over for me? I don’t know that, but I’m sure it was part of that conversation, absolutely. I’m indebted to James that he would believe in me enough to remember that and pass that info on.”

There are certainly similarities between the two characters, so it is easy to see why Levi came close to getting the Star-Lord role, but in the end things worked out well for both him and Pratt, with their respective characters having been a huge success and appearing in their own franchises. This story comes to us via The Playlist.