‘Shazam!’ Star Asher Angel Couldn’t Stop Yelling the Magic Words

One of the most important lines in the upcoming Shazam! movie is, well, "shazam". As the word that transforms Billy Batson into the titular superhero it's a pretty big deal and it turns out that young star Asher Angel put a lot of effort into getting it just right.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly at San Diego Comic-Con last month, Angel said that he practiced saying "shazam" so many times that it even prompted his parents to ask him to ease up.

"I mean when I got the role I went to my parents and then I went to the comic book store to just, you know, do my research on the character but that line, that line I would just practice over and over," Angel said. "I can't even tell you. My mom would tell me 'stop saying that', both of my parents."

His co-star Zachary Levi, who plays the hero Billy transforms into, promised it was all worth it in the finished film.

"You'll see that finished product in the film, guys," Levi said. "You'll see the months of hard work."

Of course, Angel put in hard work for more than just the film's all-important word. While the film is very much about Shazam and Billy discovering how to be a superhero, according to director David F. Sandberg Billy has another mission as well.

"He's trying to find his family... His mom is still out there," Sandberg told ComicBook.com. "But once he gets these powers, he's just trying to figure out what to do with them and how it works. For that he needs his friend Freddie, who is like a superhero expert, who helps him to discover his powers and how to be a superhero."

It's that superhero journey that Sandberg told Entertainment Weekly helps make Shazam! stand out from other superhero films.

"It's such a unique character, and it is that wish fulfillment of a kid that gets to become an adult superhero, which we haven't really seen before, really," Sandberg said. "So, it's just a really fun movie that has its own style."

Shazam! will hit theaters on April 5, 2019.