He played a superhero in “Shazam!” but Zachary Levi is a real life super hero to many for opening up about his mental health struggles in his new memoir “Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others.”
“It wasn’t until five years ago, when I was 37, that I had this massive epiphany because I had a massive breakdown,” Levi explained. “I moved out to Austin with a head full of steam and dreams to build this united artists studio and to launch a whole new chapter of my life. I had a complete breakdown. I didn’t want to live anymore. I didn’t know why.”
Levi credited the support of family and friends to help him through that difficult time. His sister found him an East Coast organization where the “Chuck” star underwent three weeks of, what he calls, “massively intensive life-changing, life-saving therapy.”
At that point in time, the actor said he learned a lot about self-love. Shortly afterwards he booked the lead in “Shazam!” He credited the lessons he learned in that period for helping him land that role.
“I knew that I owed that role, really, to that work that I did on myself for myself,” he explained. “So when I was promoting ‘Shazam!’ I felt very compelled to talk about my mental health journey whilst promoting it.”
While hearing Levi talk about his journey on a few podcasts, publishing giant Harper Collins saw the opportunity for a book in this space.
“I never intended to write a book, I have a hard enough time reading books, let alone writing them” he jokingly explained. “I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity. I hope that it resonates with people, I hope it helps people.”
Levi described his book as a “very real, very raw vulnerable take” on his life. However, he’s not scared about taking down his walls.
“I think vulnerability is a superhero,” he proudly explained. “If we could all be vulnerable. If we could all just show our underbellies a little bit and say ‘hey yeah I’m messed up too’. We’re all a little messed up. We all need more love. We all need to love ourselves and love each other. This world is more divided than ever.”
While the actor penned the memoir, he is still a work in progress. “I didn’t write this book from the perspective of someone whose got it take care of,” he explained. “I wrote this book from the perspective from someone who’s still very much going through it.”
“Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others” is available now wherever books are sold including Amazon.