Zachary Levi hopes his role as a superhero in 'Shazam!' does not turn him into a sex symbol.

Zachary Levi

Zachary Levi

The 38-year-old actor portrays the titular character in the upcoming DC Extended Universe movie and he had to hit the gym and bulk up for his role.

However, he hopes his new physique and performance in the comic book flick does not make him a Hollywood hunk like 'Thor' star Chris Hemsworth - whose brothers Luke and Liam are also actors - because he's "not ready" for that sort of attention.

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', he said: "No, I'm not ready for it. I don't think about that stuff.

"That's not real life. None of that is real life. All that stuff is just the icing on the cake of the not real life that all of this is. So if people wanna put me in the same conversation as all those guys, rock 'n' roll. I just am gonna keep doing what I think is the right thing in my life."

When it was suggested to him that he could be in the running to be named People magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year, he quipped: "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves, People magazine."

The new film focuses on teenage boy Billy Baston (Asher Angel) who can transform into an adult superhero (Levi) when he utters the magic word "Shazam" - an acronym of the ancient world gods and historical figures: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.

'Chuck' star Levi has always "dreamed" of playing a superhero on the big screen and feels "blessed" that it has finally become a "reality".

He said: "This is the far biggest thing I've ever been blessed enough to be a part of and be the titular character of, so it's super surreal and super cool. I always dreamed and believed it was possible that I could be a superhero maybe one day, certainly ever since I was a kid I wanted that to be a reality. But these roles are rare, there's not that many of them and I had already been very blessed playing an Asgardian in another universe."

Levi's DC Comics alter ego wears a red and gold suit, complete with a cape and gold lightning bolt across the chest, and the star admitted that he made sure to workout "a lot in the gym" so he could fill out as much of the costume as possible without the need for padding.

He shared: "I've spent a lot of time at the gym and eating a lot of protein and vegetables to the point where I don't really like eating them all that much anymore. But look ... there's definitely augmentation in the suit. I did everything I could to fill it with as much real me as possible and will continue to ... I have to go workout tonight after the screening. You gotta stay on top of it."

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