By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Assistant Editor Saturday, November 01, 2025MGM Studios

Zachary Levi says his entire career has been a lesson in faith.

Long before he was a Disney prince in "Tangled" or DC's lighthearted superhero Shazam!, the 45-year-old actor knew as a child that God had called him to act.

"Faith is a massive part of my life," Levi told The Christian Post. "I am only here right now because of the faith that God gave me as a young child, believing that I was called to be an actor. I knew it. I knew it in my knowing. I didn't know anything cerebrally, I was a child, but I knew in my knowing that I had been called into this life."

Levi, who has been open about his faith journey and his struggles with anxiety and depression, said his belief in God's purpose has guided him through a notoriously difficult industry.

 "The probability of becoming a successful actor in Hollywood is very, very, very, very low, but against all of those odds and everything else … I knew, in the faith that God had imbued me with, that this was what I was meant to do," he said. "And sure enough, that's exactly what did transpire in my life."

Levi will next appear in the new faith-fueled film "Sarah's Oil," which hits theaters on Nov. 7. 

The historical drama from Amazon MGM Studios, Kingdom Story Company and Wonder Project tells the remarkable true story of Sarah Rector, an 11-year-old black girl in early-1900s Oklahoma who became one of the first black female millionaires in America after oil was discovered on her allotment land. Filmmakers worked closely with Rector's descendants and historian Tonya Bolden, who wrote Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America, to ground the story in real events. 

The film, directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh ("The Stoning of Soraya M.," "The Young Messiah") and shot in Oklahoma, features Sonequa Martin-Green, Garret Dillahunt, Bridget Regan and newcomer Naya Desir-Johnson as Sarah. 

Levi, who recently became a father for the first time, said he was drawn to the story because it paralleled his own experience of persevering through doubt. In "Sarah's Oil," Levi's character, Bert Smith, becomes Sarah's business partner and, over time, comes to recognize the depth of her faith and determination.

"Life is hard. This career has been hard; all of the ups and downs, the continued battle that it is in this world that is a very broken world, and always has been a broken world," he said. "And [it's about] continuing to lean into that faith that surpasses all understanding, because if you're just leaning on your own understanding, it all feels impossible."

"That's one of the things that I loved about this story," Levi added. "Sarah as this young girl, against every odd that you know could be against her in the place that she lived, given that she was a black girl in a still very segregated and racist part of the nation, living in poverty, knowing nothing about oil other than what God was telling her for her to persevere, to lean into that faith and to keep fighting for what she believed God put on her heart, I think is incredibly inspiring."

Levi is no stranger to playing men whose lives are transformed by conviction and faith. In the 2021 film "American Underdog," he portrayed NFL MVP Kurt Warner, whose story of faith and perseverance mirrored Levi's own worldview. His 2025 project with the Erwin brothers, "The Unbreakable Boy," follows a similar theme.

According to Levi, storytelling has always been a means of sharing his beliefs.

"I always want to challenge myself and also challenge the audience's perceptions of who I am and what I'm capable of doing," he said. "And more than that, I just want to tell great stories that inspire people, if I can, which is not to say I also don't want to make movies that … make people laugh, or feel emotional, or scared."

That sense of purpose resonates with the ideas in Levi's 2022 memoir, Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others, in which he describes his path from self-loathing and anxiety toward acceptance and grace. He wrote about learning to "see myself the way God sees me," and the movie, he said, reminded him of that same spiritual resilience.

"There are certainly roles that I have turned down because I didn't find them to be redemptive in any way, shape or form, roles that could have paid me a lot of money or could have propelled me further in my career at any given time," he reflected. "As funny as a script might be or whatever, I don't find it to be redemptive. I don't find it to possess enough quality in it for me to go and be a part of it."

But even as he has found success across genres, from Broadway to Marvel, Levi said faith has never been a professional liability. The actor, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 and publicly criticized the COVID-19 vaccine a year prior, stated that he has seen "far more polarization" within the political spectrum.

"Faith has never really been a major block in Hollywood. Some people have said that, some people have found that to be. I would say that there's far more polarization when it comes to the political spectrum than there is the spiritual spectrum, which is unfortunate, but that's Hollywood," he said.

With "Sarah's Oil," the actor found an opportunity to do exactly what he loves: Inspire audiences and remind them of the hope that comes from a belief in something greater than oneself.

"I think there's a spectrum of entertainment that we can offer people," he said. "But to the extent that we have an opportunity to tell inspiring stories that uplift people, that encourage them in their faith, that encourage them to recognize that there is something bigger, more powerful and more important than just us, in our God, our Creator … we can be humble to and grateful to and trust in and what can transpire from that. 

"Those are stories that I want to tell all the time. That's what led me here."

Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com