Gentile Actor Zachary Levi Says He’s Denied Roles for Being ‘Too Jewish’
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Actor Zachary Levi said casting directors have denied him roles for being “too Jewish,” despite the fact that he is not a Jew, the New York Daily News‘ Confidenti@l reported on Wednesday.
“I guess they were looking for more of a corn-fed, white boy look,” he said. “My family is from f****** Indiana! Come on, I’m like dying here!”
The Thor star clarified that he is Welsh, and that Levi is actually his middle name, while his real last name is Pugh.
He said he didn’t run into the “Jewish” problem when landing a role in Eva Longoria’s new NBC comedy series Telenovela, because he didn’t have to go through casting directors to get it.
“I didn’t audition,” he explained. “[Eva and I have] been friends for so long and she just said, ‘Hey, I have this role. Would you want to come do it?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come do it.'”