Zachary Levi has been candid about his decision to leave California for Texas, describing his home state as a “failed state” during a recent interview with Fox News Digital. The 45-year-old actor, known for roles in Chuck and the Shazam! franchise, sat down alongside his The Fix co-star Liam Neeson to discuss his relocation, his ambitious studio project, and his latest action-thriller.
Leaving California for a New Vision in Texas
Levi sold his Los Angeles home in 2017 and purchased a 75-acre ranch outside Austin in Bastrop County. He explained that the move was driven by both dissatisfaction with California and a long-held desire to reshape the entertainment industry.
“I grew up in California. I love California. It is a failed state,” he said. “It is literally and figuratively on fire.”
Beyond politics and cost of living, Levi said he felt a spiritual calling to build an artist-owned studio model.
“Ever since I started working in Hollywood and I saw how broken it all was, I felt very compelled by God to go build a better Hollywood — like a new United Artists kind of studio — where it’s owned and operated by the artists, where we can cut out all the middlemen, where we all can do really well, build a community,” Levi said.
“And then not just a place to work,” he continued. “People can live there, and kids can go to school there. And we have an organic farm, and, like, all of the things that I think everybody really wants these days.”
“We look at the regular world around us, and we see it burning. And we’re like, ‘Can we do this better? I feel like we can do this better,” Levi added. “So, that all culminated in nine years ago, me finding 75 acres outside of Austin, Texas, to buy, to develop, to turn into this magical kind of idea. That’s why I left.”
Building Wyldwood Studios
Levi is now developing Wyldwood Studios, a $100 million film and lifestyle campus on his property. Designed as a hybrid production hub and creative retreat, the multi-phase project will include soundstages, production offices, housing, and wellness spaces. The first two soundstages are expected to open in 2027.
Reflecting on the personal cost of the move, Levi acknowledged the trade-offs.
“I left behind a lot of community and family and perfect weather in Southern California, but when you weigh it all out — and you must — you have to come to these points in your life, and you go, ‘Is all of that really worth the thing that I know I’m supposed to go build in the future to make a better world?’ And, to me, that calling on my life was more important,” he said.
“Fortunately, Austin’s awesome. It’s great, you know?” Levi continued. “It can get kinda hot in the summer and kinda cold in the wintertime, but I can deal with it.”
“There’s no thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing.”
A Grittier Role in ‘The Fix’
The Fix marks a sharp departure for Levi. Directed by Guy Moshe, the film follows a group of disgraced former CIA operatives led by Tucker (Levi) and mentored by Larry (Neeson). Set against the backdrop of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the team embarks on a rogue mission in Tehran seeking redemption and a life-changing score.
Levi said he pursued the project to explore a darker, more complex character.
“I wanted to do something fun, gritty, darker, in comparison to other roles that I’ve played in the past, and this gave me that and then some, because there was all of the great spycraft and twists and turns and revelations throughout the story, as well as this human foundation,” he said.
“‘Who are these people in real life? Why are they doing the things they’re doing? What is this redemption that they are trying to seek?’ The moral ambiguity of all of that, of, like, who’s really the good guy and who’s the bad guy. I think these are really cool themes to explore. And I got to do them with the Liam Neeson.”
Neeson Praises Script and Co-Star
Liam Neeson, who plays Levi’s longtime mentor in the film, said the screenplay drew him in.
“It is a terrific script,” he said. “Really, really good, talented director and writer.”
“He’s a wonderful actor,” Neeson added of Levi. “I’m not just saying that because he’s here, but he is wonderful.”
Director Guy Moshe: Levi Is a Natural Action Star
Moshe told Fox News Digital he believed Levi was an ideal fit from their first meeting.
“When I met him, I immediately asked myself, ‘How am I the first one to see what a great action star this guy can be?’ Like a 6-4, handsome, commanding, almost like old movie star type of kind of presence,” Moshe said.
“But to me with Zach, the nice thing about him is which people, I think, don’t know as much about him — he’s very much of an outdoors person,” he continued. “He lives in Austin, Texas, on the ranch. He likes rafting. He likes to be outside. He likes to hike. I mean, he’s a very physical person in real life.”
“And he embraced it and was every bit a collaborator from day one,” Moshe added. “So, I wouldn’t say surprised, but rather validated maybe is the word that I could use. Like, I believed that this would be the case when I met him, and he clearly exceeded my expectations even here.”
Moshe recalled a moment during filming in Tbilisi that underscored Levi’s physical commitment.
“Let’s just say I found myself in the streets of Tbilisi in a fistfight with Zach and I throwing punches ith people in the middle of the street, which is maybe not something I should advertise,” Moshe said. “But I don’t know if people would expect that of him. But, like, he’s quite a man’s man in that capacity.”
“He’s done all these movies where it’s like the four-quadrant family films, all that kind of stuff, whatever, but he’s certainly, I think, a much more intense person in real life in certain ways that people might not be familiar with.”
Co-Star Elnaaz Norouzi Highlights Rare Chemistry
Elnaaz Norouzi, who plays Zara — a woman recruited to pose as Tucker’s Persian wife during the Tehran operation — praised Levi’s generosity as a scene partner.
“And you do want to be opposite him as the leading lady.”
“Honestly, he’s one of those guys who just lets you be and lets you do,” she said. “But whenever I would, like — whenever he would feel like I need something from him in the scene to either understand the scene better or to get that chemistry, he would just give it to me.”
“And that kind of understanding and that kind chemistry is quite rare, I feel,” Norouzi continued. “And me and Zach really had that and that really helped.”
“We had fun on set,” she added. “It was really good.”
The Fix premieres in theaters September 11.
