One of the best experiences of my life as an aspiring actress was working as an extra on the upcoming DC superhero movie “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” As a conservative working in liberal Hollywood, it came as a shock to me to see the star of the movie, Zachary Levi, trending on Twitter earlier this month for “anti-vax” tweets. Even more shocking, the tweets weren’t really anti-vax, they were anti-big pharma. This made me even more proud to have had a small part in his movie as he bravely shared his opinion on such a controversial topic.
Levi responded to a tweet stating that he “hardcore agrees” that the Pfizer vaccine “is a real danger to the world.” This sparked controversy among his fans and a deep-dive into his public history.
Among the many tweets “exposing” Levi was a resurfaced clip of him on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast where he shared his admiration for Jordan B. Peterson, the conservative clinical psychologist and YouTube personality, saying he is “one of the deepest thinkers” that he has ever heard break down human behavior. Levi said Petersen has deep wisdom and “is someone [he] would trust.”
As a fan, I was pleasantly surprised by these tweets. I had not previously gotten any hints from Zachary Levi’s social media that his opinion may lean to the right on certain subjects.
Levi also posted a follow-up tweet to support his anti-Pfizer statement with a link to a press release from the Justice Department about Pfizer’s multi-billion dollar settlement for marketing fraud in 2009.
James Gunn, the new head of DC studios, told Variety, “actors and filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with and things that I don’t agree with… I don’t have a list of things that somebody should say because of what I think. I can’t be changing my plans all the time because an actor says something I don’t agree with.”
On Monday, Gunn and co-chairman of DC Peter Safran revealed their 10-year plan for their superhero movies, suggesting that Levi could return to the screen in the future.
It’s sad what Hollywood and social media have become–both are cesspools of left-wing ideology that allow no dissent and take no prisoners. Even so, I am grateful for the experience of working on set two summers ago, and it is an experience I will never forget. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” comes to theaters March 17th, 2023.
