Have you seen Thor: Dark World yet? It’s totally amazing! I had the chance to interview Zachary Levi who plays Fandral with 24 other bloggers. Below is our conversation. Our questions are in BLUE and his answers are in RED.

 I have a fan question, how battered and bruised do you get and what the remedy is to the pain?

Ha…  Doing what exactly?  I dare say.  Um, no, you know what, I didn’t get that battered and bruised.  There was a couple, I think I dislocated a rib at one point, but that was a freak accident.  Then probably the worst thing that happened to me was I slammed my finger in my trailer door.  Which is incredibly unglamorous.  And that’s just ice and alcohol, that’s pretty much how you deal with that. It was a, it was a really well oiled machine of a set.

Our stunt coordinators and everybody was like incredibly good and dialed in.  And I never at one point felt like I was at risk of getting incredibly injured.  I also wasn’t doing nearly as much stuff as Chris was doing.  I mean, you know, Chris has the lion share of all the action in that movie.  And then myself, and Ray, and Tadd, and Jamie we all some really fun stuff to kind of kick into that.  But, I was reasonably safe and didn’t get too hurt.

We’re you nervous about taking this role and being apart of this huge franchise?

I was nervous about coming in and-and having any ill-will if there was going to be any ill-will from any of the rest of the cast, knowing that Josh had played it in the first film.  Some of the cast knew, I mean, Tom knew, and I think and Jamie did.  I could, I’ve known Jamie for a while, because I was originally going to be Fandral and then Chuck got in the way and I wasn’t able to do it.  And then Josh was able to play the role and did a fantastic job.

But not everybody knew that.  And so I didn’t want to feel like the guy who’s coming in and like taking somebody else’s job away.  But his job, his role on Once Upon a Time conflicted, it was, it was very like, so that happened to me and that happened to him and came back around.  But that was the only thing I was kind of nervous about.  Being apart of the Marvel Universe is nothing to be nervous about.  I think you should just celebrate that.   Like you get to be apart of  this incredible comic book,  lineage and family and universe that they’ve built, which is incredible, you know.

My daughter is four and she’s very much in love with Flynn Rider. (yes, Zachary Levi is the voice of Flynn Rider in Tangled)

 Oh fantastic, Well you tell her Eugene Fitz Harbor said, hi.

I will.  Did you bring a little bit of Flynn Riders charm to your role?

Yeah, I mean, I guess,  you know, you bring a little bit of yourself to every role you do.  And I think that it’s really just kind of a matter of  this a charming character,  a loyal character,  is he trust worthy, is he loving, is he menacing, is he strong, is he weak, is he nerdy.  I mean, I feel like I’ve played my share of nerdy characters, ah, and that’s an easy dial for me.

Ah, the-the nerdy dial.  But, um, Flynn Rider was a dream come true.  I mean, I grew up doing nothing but watching Disney cartoons and movies, and particularly musicals, and loving all of them, and dreaming about getting to do just that.  So the fact, what was interesting is when I first auditioned for Flynn Rider, he was English, he had a British accent.   I don’t know if that was more just kind of they were still kind of deciding is he going to have a British accent or not or whatever.

So there was definitely, the original Flynn Rider and Fandral the Dashing are much more similar than people realize.  And then,  Flynn ended up becoming much more my own kind of intonation voice.  And, um, and Fandral was just, you know, this incredible, it definitely had, there’s a parallel in the charm, I think, with the two of them.  But Fandral is, very much more British.  Well he’s Asgardean, but they all speak with British accents.  So I don’t know.  So Bris-Gardian? I don’t know what that would be.  But very aero Flynn and swashbuckling and, you know…  You guys are going to all get to see the movie tonight right?

Yes.

I love it.   Yeah, so you’ll see.  I’ve got my few little moments throughout the film and it’s very much like that, you know. 

We’re you a fan of the comics before this?

Was I a fan of Thor before this or-or comics in general?

The Marvels

Absolutely.  Absolutely.  All of it, yeah.  You know, Thor, interestingly enough,  I was really big in X-Men, the whole kind of mutant category, like X-Men, X-Factor, and X-Force, New Mutants, all that kind of stuff I really, really loved.  Spider-Man, Iron Man to an extent, Captain America.  I went through phases, you know, like I was kind of like, depending on how old I was, or what I was into at the time, I’d be like, yeah, I’m kind of done with that, now I really want to focus on these characters.

But, you know, the-the mutants were always kind of like, to me the most relatable.  Because you felt like as a kid, you thought, well maybe I have that in me it just hasn’t manifested yet.  You know what I mean?  Like I can get to a place and eventually I’ll realize, I am super human and this’ll be great.  Thor is a very unique Marvel character, he’s actually unique amongst all the comics books, because he’s not somebody who was irregular guy who was thrust into extraordinary situations.

He’s a god.  And how do you relate to that guy?  And I think Marvel’s done a very good job in trying to, how do you bring down a god?  How do you bring your god to Earth, you know, just as guardian demigod, you know, how do you bring him down to earth and have relatable to human beings?  And they’ve done a great job by bringing Jane into that in the first movie.  And that he falls for a human and that he was able to kind of realize what it is to be human through her, a little bit.  And the other humans that he interacts with and encounters in the first movie and that just continues through the Avengers and the second movie.

So I think that, real kudos to Marvel for kind of understanding that he’s a difficult character to relate with on the surface.  He’s not a human being.  Almost every other Marvel character is a human being.  But I still read Thor as well.  Yeah, and the Avengers, I mean, you know, when you get everybody in one comic, you’re like, well it’s one stop shop, I love this, it’s easy.  

So how was it performing the Tangled song at the Oscars?

Ah, the most nerve-racking experience of my life.  I’m surprised I didn’t wet myself at any point during that.  It was, a dream come true, but a dream that I didn’t even realize that I had until it was happening.  As a, as a performer, you know, I’ve dreamed about performing on Broadway, and now I’ve finally gotten to do that now, which is incredible and I’m so incredibly blessed to have that opportunity in my life.  I’ve been so blessed on every level.

Literally, since I was a little kid, all I wanted to do was entertain people and do film, and television, and theater at the highest level and it just, God continues to go, here you go, here you go, here you go, here you go.  And I know that doesn’t happen for most people in the world, so I don’t take that lightly.  I’ve not gotten to sing on Broadway, other singers, you know, you dream about, oh I want to, you know, ah, do an album, or I want to win a-a Grammy or something like that.  Rarely, I don’t think most people sit around as a kid, or even as an adult going, you know what I really dream about doing is singing at the Oscars, it’s such a weird niche little thing.

And then I got to do it, and I was like, oh my god, I’m, not only am I doing something that very few people get to do, I’m doing something that very few people even think about ever doing in their life.  And it’s monumental, you’re doing it in front of the largest audience on, that ever see anything televised.  And thank god nobody told me that.   My publicist has the presence of mind to not tell me that a billion people were going to be watching that particular telecast worldwide.  Ah, it was nerve-racking enough.  You come out, everyone you could ever dream about wanting to work with or work with, or hire you or not hire you, depending on how bad you might bomb.

You know, Haley Berry’s sitting in the front.  I mean, basically all I was thinking was, don’t look at Haley, don’t look at Haley, don’t look at Haley, don’t look at Haley, Haley, Haley, Haley, Haley, Haley, Haley, Haley, don’t look at Haley.  It’s very intimidating, she’s a beautiful woman.  We were rehearsed it a lot, I was very nervous.  And then we rehearsed it  in the Kodiak, right here.  And I prayed about it a lot and I was like all right, I’m cool, I got peace about this, I’m going to, we’re going to do good.  We sounded good in rehearsal, no problem.

We saw all the cardboard cutouts of everybody that’s going to be in those seats, including Haley.  It’s like, all right, don’t look at that one in the front.  I was really calm and a lot, a lot of peace.  And then, you know, red carpet, that-that morning, that day comes around, and I’m doing the red carpet at the Oscars.  I’m like, oh my gosh, this is insane.  Talking to Ryan Seacrest, good ole Ry Ry.  And, um, and then I get in there and we’re watching, and I’m like, wow, I’m at the Oscars, and we’re doing a thing, this is my first, I mean, I’m a, it’s the biggest, it’s the biggest shows for, as an actor it’s the biggest thing you could every be apart of.

I’m like sitting amongst the crews of The Fighter and there was another incredible movie that they were sitting, I mean, I was like right in the middle of all of them.  So like as they were winning their awards, I’m like, oh that, oh that’s great, that’s great, great, congratulations.  It’s, they’re not, don’t worry you don’t know me, its fine.  Then all of a sudden I get the cue for, okay, and you’re going to be on in about ten minutes.  So then they pull me from the crowd, and I go up, and I’m like, okay, I’m cool, I’m cool.  And the Kevin Spacey introduces Randy Newman.

 And because we had rehearsed it, I knew and Kevin Spacey comes out and introduces Randy Newman.  And Randy does his bit.  And then Rand, and then Kevin comes back out and says, and from Tangled, here comes, you know, Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi.  So Randy’s beginning to finish his song, and it starts dawning on me, I’m like, all right, so he’s going to be done and then Kev, and then Kevin walks out on the stage.  And-and says, and from Tangled, my heart starts just like pounding out of my chest.  I’m like, oh my god, I don’t know, I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I’m looking for a stage manager, like can I get like a couple more minutes, is that all right?

And you can’t because it’s like its live and its happening.  And, um, and you just go into auto pilot and you kind of blackout a little bit.  Not only was I not in all, not on top of saying don’t look at Haley, all I was saying was just look at Mandy, look at Mandy, look at Mandy.  And I’m looking at Mandy, I’m looking at Mandy, and then we turn on this look, just look into the bla, the lights, they’re shining down.  It kind of, and really, you can’t see anybody because it’s so bright.  And you just, you finish it, and to try and finish strong.

And  I felt like, you know what, hey, we got through it.  I look over and if you look at the footage, I kind of look over at her and I kind of wink at her and smile at her like, hey we did it, we made it through it.  It wasn’t any crazy, crazy mess ups or anything.  Although I didn’t feel great about it  or even slightly good about it until later when I watched.  And I was like, you know what, that-that was, that was pretty good, that was pretty good. 

It was very good.

Oh thank you very much, I appreciate that.  I appreciate that.  So that was the experience, the very long version of that, sorry.  

So coming from Chuck and Flynn, I love them.

Thank you very much.

What’s it like to now play such a badass?

Badass is what it feels like. You know, Chuck was, I got to do some really, really fun stuff, ah, as Chuck.  And kissed a lot of beautiful women.  And I had some great fight scenes and all that stuff, but-but I’m already kind of a thin, lankier, l limber guy.  So it doesn’t, you know, the difference between like a, like a, like a me and a Jason Statham is very evident.  Hey, he’s like a world class athlete who also knows what, martial arts, right? 

 And he’s about, you know, I don’t know, a foot shorter than me and like stocky and like, you know, so when he like, when he punch, when he throws a punch it’s snappy.  It’s real, real snappy.  And when I was Chuck and, you know, with nerdy and floppy hair and whatever I’m doing, and I learn kung fu, it’s the nerdy version of Kung fu.  It’s not the coolest version of Kung fu.  But still very fun to do.  So I kind, I got a tasted of that and I got it on a pretty regular basis, because we did a lot of, a lot of fights.  The stuff I love doing the most on chuck was not as, not even the fights as mush as just the-the kind of stunts. 

Like I loved running and jumping over things, and swinging on things, and hanging on things, and, um, being dangled off, you know a  ten  story balcony with me and Adam as we then, you know, begin to fall into a pool and spoiler alert if you’ve never seen it.  

And they’re on Netflix now which is fantastic, they finally made it to Netflix.  Ah, but to get to be a guy who as definitive-definitively a badass is just fun, it’s just fun.  And that he was like, and then he’s blonde and British.  Bless you.  Ah, British Asgardean, whatever that is again.  You know, I’ve had some people tweet me internationally where the movie’s now already been released and I’ve seen some tweets like, I didn’t know it was you until the credits.

And I was like, oh my god, that was the guy who played Chuck.  And to me, that’s the greatest thing I could ever hear.  I don’t, I think any actor hopes that your performance and your look and whatever you do is so kind of transcendent that people don’t know that it’s you, they’re just lost in whatever the character is until the end.  And even with Tangled, although it’s a lot easier to not know whose doing something in an animated movie, but a lot of friends didn’t know I did Tangled until it got to the end of the movie.  And they’re like, wow, I really, oh my god, that’s Zac, and Zac did that voice, you know.  So, um, so to play Fandral is a real treat.

It’s very different.  I really hope I get to do it again, I hope I get to play more roles like that.

For my three daughters, will you do the smolder?

(He does) I can’t do it as well Flynn does it, I can’t, I can’t.

Do you have to do any extra training to get you more in shape for this role?

No, you know, what’s interesting is that I was on like a really strict workout regimen until I got to London.  And then I tried on my wardrobe for the first time and I realized nobody will ever be able to tell whether I’m ripped or not.  I thought they would, I thought, oh, we’re doing a superhero movie, I’m going to be like really…  But I am covered, I’m literally like from here, I got this big old collar, you’ll see.  I got a big old collar and I am just, you don’t see any skin other than my face.  I’m even wearing gloves, like the, you don’t even see my finger.  So, um, so the whole point of being, you know, working out for the poll, for the purposes of like kind of be aesthetic was like, well I don’t really need to do that.

And then once I learned my fight choreography I realized that I was more than capable of doing that in my physical state.  So then my training just became drinking beers and eating chips, thank you Elmer Fudd.  That was, which is very important by the way, if we’re really going to dive into, you know…

What was the most challenging aspect of taking on this role?

Of Fandral?

Yeah

I think probably just deciding to step into  the shoes that somebody else has already started.  I’m very much about, respect and respecting people in my world and in my vocation.  It’s a difficult thing, you know, somebody still, you know, regardless of whether I was meant for, I got cast in that before or whatever, it doesn’t matter. 

Ultimately fate had it that Josh played that role and I didn’t.  I wanted to do right by him, I wanted to do right by Marvel, I wanted to do right by the cast and do my own take on it.  I didn’t want to emulate what he did.  But I also wanted to  you know do him right through that process.  And he’s an incredibly sweet guy.  We got to talk right before I shipped off to London, actually I saw him at Comicon and he was incredibly kind, he and Jennifer.  We all caught up and laughed about it.

So that, you know was a little intimidating and difficult.  And then other than that, you know, I mean, just living in a foreign country, we shot in London over, you know, five months.

We had an incredible team that was teaching us all of our stunts and all of our choreography.  You know, I’m sure there was somebody who could have done it far better than I.  But I felt pretty good.  And then, and I just, I really just wanted to bring the character that I always had in my mind since I auditioned for it the very first time, for the first one.  I had a very definitive idea of who I thought he would be.  And, um, and I’m just glad that that finally got to come to fruition, you know.

Then we all got to take a picture with him.

Make sure to keep up with all things Thor: Dark World

• Like THOR on Facebook: Facebook.com/Thor
  
• Follow THOR on Twitter: Twitter.com/ThorMovies
  
• Visit the website: www.marvel.com/thor
  
• Follow Hashtag #ThorDarkWorldEvent for the updates from bloggers that attended