Zachary Levi backtracks on playing Flynn in live-action Tangled and names actor who he wants to replace him

Actor says he’s a ‘little old’ but open to cameo as Rapunzel’s parent

Zachary Levi has suggested Timothée Chalamet should play Flynn Rider in a potential live-action adaptation of Tangled.

The Shazam actor said that he feels too “old” for the role of the Disney prince and Chalamet suits the character.

“I mean, he is already getting every other job, but probably Timothée Chalamet,” Levi said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the Los Angeles premiere of Harold and the Purple Crayon. “Unfortunately I feel like I’m a little old and I don’t know all of the younger actors that could be that guy.”

Levi voiced Flynn Rider in Tangled, the animated retelling of Rapunzel released in 2010. Mandy Moore voiced Rapunzel and Donna Murphy voiced Mother Gothel.

“I think it would be fun if Mandy and I got to be Rapunzel’s parents,” Levi said. “I think that would be a really fun little cameo for us to pop in to.”

Timothee Chalamet at the world premiere of Dune: Part Two in London on 15 February 2024 (Invision)

While Disney hasn’t announced aTangled live-action adaptation, Levi has previously pitched himself for the role of Flynn Rider.

Levi said at the Chicago Fan Expo in August 2023 that he had heard rumours about Florence Pugh playing Rapunzel, and that he should play Rider.

“There was this thing floating around the internet, I just saw it, somebody sent it to me, that Florence Pugh potentially might play the role of Rapunzel. And If Florence plays Rapunzel, what about me? Which would also be a trip because my real last name is Pugh, p-u-g-h, Zachary Levi Pugh, so you’d have in Tangled. Come on!”

Public opinion on Levi soured after the Shazam sequel flopped and received negative reviews that the actor described as “insanely unkind.”

Around the same time, Levi made an anti-Pfizer post on X, which was seen as him being anti-vaccination. He also made fun of the fact that actors weren’t allowed to promote their work during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes which was interpreted as being anti-union.

Moore too shared her thoughts on who should be cast in the live-action remake earlier this month, suggesting Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter for Rapunzel, echoing Levi’s wish to return as her parent.

“I could see her with 50 feet of hair or something. She looks like a Disney princess in real life,” she told Elite Daily.

“Maybe I could be Rapunzel’s mom. Let’s have a real mother-daughter duet, and have someone write an original song so we can talk about our differences and how hard it is to be a young person in this world.”