ASHER ANGEL’S MAGICAL LIFE ADVENTURES IN LIFE, MUSIC AND ACTING

BY IRVIN RIVERA

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods star ASHER ANGEL has been living an adventurous life in the entertainment industry since he was young. Asher plays Billy Batson, the young alter-ego of Zachary Levi (who plays Shazam) in the Shazam series of films. Asher is also consistently creating and releasing music that evolves with him.

In this exclusive interview, ASHER ANGEL spoke to us about his experiences in filming Shazam! Fury of the Gods, working alongside veteran actors, the challenges and the highs of filming, his dream projects, life lessons, things that kept him grounded, his music journey, and more.

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Hi Asher, How are you? How have you been?

I've been great. I've been really good. excited about this new year, for sure.

What are you most excited about this year?

Oh, man. I guess for me, I’m excited about the goals and the things that I want to accomplish. And I think yeah, it's really those goals that I've set for myself that I'm really gonna work hard to try and achieve. So I think that for me, that's super exciting.

There's because there's a lot of things going on for you right now. Music, acting. And what are the other things that keep you busy?

Just taking personal time for myself because, you know, mental health is very important. And I just want to make sure that I'm always enjoying what I'm doing and that I’m in a good headspace. You kind of have to juggle that on top of all the other things that that you're doing, you know.

Absolutely. What do you do to balance it all together?

I think the best way that I've really been able to balance all of it is through my family. And I have such a supportive family. They've been with me through this whole journey from the beginning and supported me. So I think they keep me really grounded and, and I'm really in a good headspace.

I photographed you several years ago, when you were way younger, and I think you were doing Andi Mack back then. So since then, up to now, how would you describe your evolution as a person and as an artist?

That's a good question. I think, you know, back then, I just was so young at the time and trying to, you know, figure myself out, like every teenage kid. And I feel like with most things, because I was so young, I really relied on my intuition for just everything that I did, whether it was singing and songwriting and portraying a character- intuition was a big part of that.

I feel like now, now that I'm older, you know, it's intuition that I have, but it's also all the other things that I have on top of it- you know, deep diving into a character and not just relying on that. And I think now it's just so different.

Speaking of that, what are some of the important life lessons that you've learned throughout your career that you still carry with you up to this day?

There’s a quote that really resonated with me when I started my career. A wise person told me this quote, and it stuck with me ever since. It's “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” And yeah, it really resonated with me and connected with me because you know, if you're not working hard, and there's someone with less talent than you have, but is working their tail off to be better and to get better and to perfect the craft, they're going to surpass you.

You've been such a hard worker, and it shows. At such a young age, you've accomplished so much. Congratulations!

Appreciate it.

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Now, let's talk about Shazam! Fury of the Gods. How excited are you about the film and tell us something exciting about the sequel?

First of all, I'm just really excited about this one. You know, it feels like it's been too long in the making. We had such a great first film, and I think the sequel is really gonna follow up that first film. And we have some additional characters featuring Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu, Rachel Zegler- which, you know, everyone is super excited to see and how they play into the story. And, I think the fans and everyone out there can expect more action packed scenes, more comedy, more heartfelt moments and more family. I just feel like this film has everything that you would want in a superhero film. It's obviously not your average superhero film. So I think we have a great follow up sequel, and I think people are really going to enjoy it.

How was Billy Batson's character development throughout the films?

You know, Billy, in the first film, he's obviously kind of just been out on the street his whole life moving from foster home to foster home, really trying to look for his family. And at the end of the film, he finds his true family. And he ends up having these amazing super powers that he has to harness and, and he has everything he's ever wanted. I mean, he's essentially living the life he's dreamed of and more. And in the second film, Billy's been with his family for quite some time, and he's almost an adult. Adulthood is on the horizon for him, and he doesn't really know what's gonna happen when he's 18. He doesn’t really know where he's gonna go, or what he's gonna do, he doesn't know if he's gonna get thrown off the foster home. So he has no idea what's gonna happen. So I think he's a little bit fearful of that. And he really just wants to hold on to his family as long as possible.

Since you're really close to your family, how do you relate the core family-centric theme of the movie to yourself in relation to your character?

I mean, my family means the world to me, obviously, and I would do anything for them. And I know Billy would do anything for his family and the people that he loves. He's always good to protect those people and be there for those people. In times of need, in times of grief or loss, or if anyone's going through anything, he's gonna be there. And I think I can relate to that because that's how I am in my daily life. I want to take care of the people I love, just like him.

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Now, let's talk about the challenges and the highs that you experienced during filming.

I think some of the main challenges for me was obviously, in our first movies, Zach and I, you know, Zach's, my alter ego, and I'm his and so we play the same character. So I think, really fine tuning that at the beginning of this whole process in the first film was very important. And luckily, it came together. It's better than we thought so and people really enjoyed it even though I think that was a little bit of a challenge for us.

I feel like in the second film, I play more of Zach, unlike in the first movie, where he played more of me. I feel like it shows that we're a lot more similar and I think people are really going to gravitate towards that.

How did you find that common ground between each other?

I think for us, it was just seeing us spending time together was a big factor in it. And also Zach- I mean, he literally is like a kid. He's goofy. He's funny. He could be our age. He is so similar to us in the way we talk and he gets it. So I think that that made it way easier. So I think just spending time together and finding little ticks, characteristics and little traits that we could use in the film.

What are the highs of this entire process?

I think for me, the high is getting to work with such incredible people whose work is so profound. That is something that I've kind of always dreamed of, like to learn from Zach. And to learn from Mark Strong in the first film, and to be around Helen Mirren, and be in her presence. It's like, all these people have such an incredible presence. And you can learn so much from any of these people that you're around. So I think, for me, I really liked that I've been able to take that in and learn because I just love learning new things and that's been a really cool thing for me. And, and I love that in this process, for sure.

Out of all of the roles that you played, is there any role or character that resonated with you the most?

Oh, that's a good question. Um, I think it's Billy Batson. Yeah, it's got to be Billy, because, you know, I haven't really played a character. When I first booked the role, I was coming out of Andy Mac and I never really played a character like Billy, especially in this kind of superhero genre. He's basically this kid that's been separated from his mom and has no parents- and he's out on the streets fighting for his life every single day. And I think for me, coming into this, it was definitely a challenge to try and really, really hone in on all these different things that he's going through. Hopefully it would resonate with the people that are out there because a lot of people out there are going through the same thing that Billy Batson is going through- you know, there are people who don't have family out there and are looking for their family and they are just out there on the streets. I think I think that really resonated with me. And I was really hopeful that it would connect with other people out there.

It’s a huge, relatable theme- that’s what your character embodies. So I'm pretty sure that it will connect with a lot of people out there watching the movie. Now, let's talk about your music. Tell us about the beginning of your music journey up to now.

When I originally started doing all this, I started off doing musical theater. That's kind of where I found my love for the arts- singing, dancing, acting. And so yeah, I mean, I've had such a great musical journey so far. I mean, last time, I was truly releasing music was when I was 16 or 15. I was so young. I was signed to HITCO. And, you know, that was a really great period of time in my life. There’s music evolution and trying to find my sound and all of that and I'm just super excited for 2023 and all the music that's to come for the fans. And, you know, I've got this whole vault of music that I'm just really excited to release and unleash to the world and to the fans and everyone out there.

That's exciting! You played some of your music during the shoot. And yeah, it's really fun. Would you say that your music right now has evolved from when you first started?

Hmm, for sure. 100% and I think that's why I'm really excited. Since I was so young back then, it's kind of hard to find- like, you know, it's just like singing songs. You know, these are cool songs. I like these songs, but now it's like, I feel like I'm really making the music that I want to make, and music that resonates with me. And I feel like I really have a different sound than anything that's out there right now. And it's super unique and different.

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Who are your music heroes? Your inspirations?

Oh, wow. Elvis for sure is one of my musical inspirations. Who else do I love? Wow, this is really hard. Of course, MJ. And I think the last one's got to be Frank Sinatra. I mean, obviously, you know my music's different from them. But those are the people I've looked up to. Since I started, Elvis was one of the reasons why I grabbed a guitar and started playing a guitar. So yeah.

So everyone's process is really different. And each has their unique approach to things. But can you walk us through your creative process, whether you're making music or whether you're acting?

Yeah, for acting, my main process is that I love deep diving into a character and creating a background if there isn't a background for the character already. And creating that world that has a life story- Where am I? What am I doing? How am I feeling at this moment? So I really love deep diving into those kinds of emotions and, and feelings. And I feel like for the music, it's, for the most part, I'm writing from personal experiences in my life- the things that I've gone through, whether it’s heartbreak, or love, or any type of feeling that I'm feeling and I'll put it on paper. I like putting those emotions into the music and into the writing process.

Music and acting, they're both under the arts, they're kind of different, but also kind of the same. So for you, how do you fuse the two together?

I mean, I feel like they're very, very similar. Like, I feel like when you're on set, and you're in front of a camera, that is performing, you are becoming this character, and you are living in that world, and there's a camera on you, and there's an audience that's watching you. So I feel like in that sense, that's a performance. And I feel like it's the same thing for music. When you're up there on stage, and you're singing in front of a bunch of people, you know, you're performing. So I think, with those two aspects, those are the same. But I feel like the difference is, you know, when I'm writing music, it's strictly from my personal experiences in my life. I'm running for me, not for a different character. So I think that's also really unique and different. So they have similarities, a lot of similarities, but they're also uniquely different in a lot of ways.

What is your goal? Your dream project?

I really want something that's super gritty- that's maybe a drug addict or something really just dark. That is something that I really want to portray. Whether it's like a biopic or some kind of autobiography about someone's life would be really cool to do, because I haven't done something like that. And, you know, the ultimate goal for me really is just to work. That's really what I love to do. And as long as I can keep doing that, for the rest of my life, I'm happy. So I think that'd be kind of like the dream project.

That's the dream, right? Like to keep doing what we love

We touched on this earlier, that your family keeps you grounded. But aside from your family, what are the other things that keep you grounded as a person?

I think my girlfriend keeps me very grounded. I love spending time with her. She's amazing. And my friends for sure. I have such a small circle. I think what's really important is to surround yourself with the right people. And I've done that ever since I started. And I think that's why it's just gone really well for me- it’s because of the people I've surrounded myself with. I've been with my same little group of people since I was born- since like, kindergarten. So it's a very small circle. And I think it's very important to keep your circle small in this business. Obviously, it's important to know everybody but to keep your true real people that have been with you from the beginning of your life and career, is important. I feel like I've really, I've done a good job doing that.

Amazing. I mean, these are your ride and die.

Right. Yeah, they've been with me from the beginning, they would do anything for me, I would do anything for them. And I'm very, very appreciative of that.

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Now, do you have any words of wisdom or advice to any aspiring young actor or someone who's really young, starting into the industry, who looks up to you and wants to do the same thing that you're doing?

I would say, you're going to hear a lot of no's in your life, you're going to hear a lot of no. A lot of people telling you can't do this, you can't do that. But I mean, the reality of the situation is, you can do whatever you put your mind to, as long as you work hard. As long as you work your tail off, you can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you want, as long as you put in the work. I think that's what I would say.

Very well said. If you're a book, what book would you be and why?

That's a good one! I feel like I'd be some sort of series, like some kind of book franchise like Harry Potter or like the Maze Runner. I was always reading those books growing up. I feel like it'd be Harry Potter. To be completely honest with you, I feel like it's such a fantasy and, and I feel like my life in a way is a fantasy. And it's a dream. And you know, in Harry Potter, he’s a wizard and goes on this incredible adventure. And I feel like there's a lot of similarities in my life to Harry Potter and, you know, wish fulfillment and all that stuff.