Zachary Levi

Zachary Levi Pugh Bio

Zachary Levi Pugh is an American actor whose career has spanned television, film, Broadway, and voice acting since 2001. He is best known for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the action-comedy series Chuck, for voicing Flynn Rider in the 2010 Disney animated film Tangled, and for portraying the titular superhero in Shazam! and its 2023 sequel. His body of work also includes significant roles in Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, a Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway revival of She Loves Me, and a Screen Actors Guild Award-winning performance in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Early Life and Background

Zachary Levi Pugh was born on September 29, 1980, in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the son of Susan Marie Pugh and Darrell Alton Pugh. He is of English, Welsh, and German descent. While he was a child, he and his family moved to several states before returning to their home in Ventura, California, where he attended Buena High School for four years. His early immersion in performance began at the age of six, when he began acting on stage and performing lead roles in regional productions including Grease, The Outsiders, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, The Wizard of Oz, and Big River at the Ojai Art Center in Ojai, California. Growing up in California also placed him in close proximity to the entertainment industry, giving him early familiarity with the world of film and television that would later shape his career path.

Path to Actor

Levi’s first screen appearance came in 2000 with the Showtime series Whatever, where he played a teenage boy named Ben and was credited as Zachary Pugh. He soon followed with a role in the FX television film Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie, and continued building his resume with appearances on the ABC sitcom Less than Perfect and the ABC Family television film See Jane Date. A pilot called Three was slated for the 2004-2005 ABC season with Levi as a lead, though the show was not picked up. These early years of guest roles, pilots, and television films provided the professional foundation he needed before his first major break arrived. During this period he also began exploring musical performance and voice acting, laying the groundwork for the range of work he would eventually be known for across television, film, Broadway, and animation.

Zachary Levi Pugh Career

Early Career (2001-2006)

Levi’s professional acting career began in the early 2000s with a series of television appearances that gradually raised his industry profile. His first credited role was in the Showtime series Whatever in 2000, followed by the FX television film Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie. He landed a recurring role as Kipp Steadman on the ABC sitcom Less than Perfect, and appeared in the ABC Family television film See Jane Date. In 2004 he was slated to lead the ABC pilot Three for the 2004-2005 season, though the show was not picked up. These years of steady television work allowed him to build the craft and industry relationships that would support his later success.

Breakthrough (2007-2012)

In 2007, Levi landed the starring role that would define his television career. Chuck, an action-comedy series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, cast Levi as Chuck Bartowski, an affable and unassuming computer expert who accidentally downloads the entire U.S. government’s spy database into his brain. The show aired for five seasons from 2007 to 2012 on NBC and earned a devoted fan base. Levi and his co-star Yvonne Strahovski were both nominated for Best Action Actor and Actress at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, which they both won and presented. That same year, Entertainment Weekly named him one of its Top Thirty People Under Thirty. Also in 2008, he appeared in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel as Dave’s cousin Toby Seville, expanding his reach into family-friendly film.

Notable Works and Milestones

In 2010, Levi voiced Flynn Rider in the Disney animated musical fantasy film Tangled, based on the fairy tale Rapunzel. His performance of the song I See the Light with co-star Mandy Moore won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, and the pair performed the song live at the 83rd Academy Awards. Levi reprised the voice role in the 2012 short film Tangled Ever After and in the Disney Channel animated series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, which ran for three seasons from 2017 to 2020. During this period he also took on the role of Fandral in Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), made his Broadway debut in First Date in August 2013, and made his first appearance as Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg in the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in 2018, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series alongside the show’s principal cast.

Zachary Levi Pugh Career (2019-Present)

Levi’s career reached a major film milestone in 2019 when he starred as the titular character in New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.’ superhero comedy feature film Shazam!, part of the DC Extended Universe. In the film, Levi’s character is the superpowered adult alter ego of a teenage boy named Billy Batson, portrayed by Asher Angel, who retains his youthful, playful personality even in his adult superhero form. The film was a critical and commercial success and established Levi as a leading film actor. Following a nearly two-year hiatus from acting, he returned in 2021 with a supporting role in the legal drama The Mauritanian and as the real-life football player Kurt Warner in the biographical sports drama American Underdog. In 2023, he reprised his role as Billy Batson in the sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods, voiced the character Rocky in the animated film Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and played Terrence Tango-Torrez in Spy Kids: Armageddon opposite Gina Rodriguez. In 2024, he starred in the film adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon as a grown-up version of the titular character. In 2025, Levi appeared as Scott LeRette, the father of a child with osteogenesis imperfecta, in The Unbreakable Boy, and as Bert Smith in Sarah’s Oil, a charming wildcatter who becomes an unlikely ally to Sarah Rector in her fight to protect her land. Sarah’s Oil is the first theatrical feature film from Levi’s production company Wyldwood Productions, founded in 2020, and is released in partnership with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Zachary Levi Pugh Award Nominations

Zachary Levi Pugh has received award nominations across film, television, and Broadway throughout his career. In 2016, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his portrayal of Georg Nowack in the Broadway revival of She Loves Me. Critics widely praised his performance, noting his ability to shift between suave and disarmingly awkward qualities. The production itself received five stars from The Guardian and was selected as a Critics’ Pick by The New York Times, and the show made Broadway history with its June 2016 livestreamed performance. Earlier in his career, Levi and his Chuck co-star Yvonne Strahovski were both nominated for and won Best Action Actor and Actress at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards for their work on the series.

Zachary Levi Pugh Awards Won

Zachary Levi Pugh has earned multiple awards recognizing his work across different entertainment mediums. In 2011, the song I See the Light, which he performed with Mandy Moore in Tangled, won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. In January 2019, Levi shared the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series with the principal cast of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for his work as Dr. Benjamin Ettenberg in the show’s second season. At the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, he won Best Action Actor in a TV Series for his performance in Chuck alongside co-star Yvonne Strahovski, who won Best Action Actress in a TV Series.

Zachary Levi Pugh Family

Zachary Levi Pugh is the son of Susan Marie Pugh and Darrell Alton Pugh. He has publicly shared details about his close relationship with his parents, and his mother Susan Marie Pugh passed away in 2015, while his father Darrell Alton Pugh passed away in 2023. In December 2024, Levi announced that his girlfriend Maggie Keating was expecting a child, and their son was born in April 2025.

Personal Life

Zachary Levi Pugh was married to Canadian actress Missy Peregrym, with the two announcing their marriage in Maui, Hawaii, in June 2014. They filed for divorce in April 2015, with the separation date listed in court documents as December 3, 2014. In December 2024, Levi announced that his girlfriend Maggie Keating was expecting their child, and their son was born in April 2025. Levi has been open about his mental health, including his struggles with suicidal thoughts, which he discussed publicly and in his 2022 memoir Radical Love. He is a sports car and motorcycle enthusiast, owning a 2009 Nissan GT-R, and is an avid gamer. He founded The Nerd Machine in September 2010 and participated in the Celebrity All Star Game at NBA All Star Weekend in 2011. He resides near Austin, Texas, and launched his production company Wyldwood Productions in 2020.