Zachary Levi, star of the nerd fest that is Chuck and also the upcoming Thor: The Dark World (though I am not sure he counts as the main star of that as Chris ‘I am too muscly for my own good’ Hemsworth’s Thor is still apparently the main draw – though I personally would take the Chuck-tastic nerdy computer geek over a God who can wield lightning any day…but that’s just me).

There is plenty to like about Zachary Levi.

Is he a computer whiz with a crazy-assed memory like his character Chuck in Chuck?

Erm well there are no reports confirming that, so I am guessing not, but that still doesn’t mean that he is not one seriously cool nerdy guy.

 

5 Things That Make Zachary Levi A Really Cool Guy

1. He is the mind behind the uber awesome site: The Nerd Machine – a kind of nerdolution of sites (and almost as cool as our humble little site). If you have not checked it out, do so, it is seriously excellent.
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2. He is also the mind behind Nerd HQ – an awesome event that runs along side Comic Con, so you don’t need a Comic Con ticket to partake in the awesome gaming festivities and panels. You can find out more about Nerd HQ here.
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3. He is a Disney Hero and Disney Prince by marriage. He is Rapunzel’s love interest in the brilliant Disney film Tangled. He made for a very convincing and lovable rogue. Also on the subject of voice acting Levi also voiced a character in the game Fallout New Vegas, which is also a pretty cool move.
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4. He is the star of Chuck. Which quite simply is brilliant. A total guilty pleasure that makes for some very enjoyable TV. The humor is pitch perfect and the action is a lot of fun to watch (plus it has Adam Baldwin in, which makes it hands down a bit of a winner).
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   What’s it about you ask..?
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   When a twenty-something computer geek inadvertently downloads critical government secrets into his brain, CIA and NSA assign two agents to protect him and exploit such knowledge, turning his life upside down.
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   The story-lines are occasionally a bit far-fetched and a bit obvious at times, but weirdly this does not detract from the enjoyment factor – if anything, it actually enhances it.
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5. He has a lot of love for his fans. When talking about how he feels about them specifically at the 2012 Comic Con he had this to say: 

“I believe that as an entertainer, you’re only as good as your audience and the people who support you. Every year we’ve gotten so much love at Comic-Con when we were doing Chuck panels, but we’d have a moderated panel for 50 minutes and then 5 minutes left over for fans. I just never really felt like that was right.”

 

It Is all In the Design

Levi is also one for giving good quotes. Recently, Designs by Lore took a particularly apt quote by Levi, defining what exactly a nerd is, and then turned that quote into a very deliciously designed typography poster -which is below:

If you like this poster and want to buy it, you can purchase it here. One of the very lovely things about this poster (apart from the fact that the quote rocks) is that for every purchase, $10 will be donated to Operation Smile.

Talking of quotes, in a conversation that he had with Shira Lazar at the 2012 Comic Con, when he was asked if he has always considered himself to be a nerd he answered:

“I get a lot that people have a hard time believing that I’m a nerd…but I grew up with a Nintendo controller in my hand.”

I think it is interesting that his nerdiness even gets called into question, but I like how he handles it.

As someone who grew up pretty much glued to her Nintendo Game Boy and had reoccurring Mario nightmares (which are today still fairly harrowing) I salute his gamer origins, but I have a feeling the Nintendo controller he grew up with was just one of many nerdy symptoms.

Zachary Levi is a man not afraid to get his nerd on and I think that is nerdtastic.

What do you think? Are you a fan of Zachary Levi? Do you enjoy a bit of Chuck? Did your nerdiness begin with gaming? Let us know in the comments. 

Image source: 1, 2, 3,