Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist

Ep 128: Hollywood Star Zachary Levi on Speaking Out for Trump, AI vs the Arts, and His $100M Texas Studio Project

Sep 25, 2025
Zachary Levi, famous for his roles in Chuck and Shazam!, dives into his daring political endorsements and the risks he's taken for his beliefs. He discusses his ambitious $100 million studio project, Wildwood, designed to foster artistic excellence and community. The conversation touches on AI's looming presence in the arts, sparking concerns about job loss for human creators. Levi also reflects on Hollywood's ideological shifts and emphasizes the need for principled leadership in today's challenging cultural climate.
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ANECDOTE

Choosing Principles Over Career

  • Zachary Levi describes risking his Hollywood career to speak his political and religious convictions.
  • He accepted potential loss because he believes some things are more important than self-preservation.
ADVICE

Apply Triage To Social Priorities

  • Prioritize societal problems by triage: address issues that affect the most people first.
  • Combine empathy with logic when deciding policy priorities and moral focus.
ANECDOTE

Emmys Ignored Charlie Kirk

  • Levi recounts the Emmys' silence about Charlie Kirk and how Hollywood treats him as an extension of Trump.
  • He says that industry programming and virtue signaling block neutral or sympathetic mentions.
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