Adam Brody Calls ‘Shazam’ Suits ‘the Most Uncomfortable I’ve Ever Been Working’
Adam Brody is recalling a not-so-super part of starring in superhero franchise “Shazam!”
The “Fury of the Gods” star called the DCU costumes “infantilizing” due to just how much effort it takes to put them on. “They’re very infantilizing because you can like do little for yourself, you need help all the time,” Brody told GQ UK. “Each one of us had a sort of pit crew to help get our bracelets on and get in and out of our gear.”
He continued, “You don’t feel naked, you’re bulky, you’re in a bunch of stuff, you know, it’s more like you’re going to the Met Ball or something.”
Yet “Fury of the Gods” was much easier to film than its 2018 predecessor. “For the first one we did, the suits were a lot bulkier and more uncomfortable. We were also in Toronto in the winter, our big scene was all in the water at night. So it was freezing, it was the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been working,” Brody said.
The “Kid Detective” actor added that he’s “always wanted” to star in a superhero film, sharing, “To do something of this size, you know, I think is part of the appeal. The outfit, the stunts, the heroics and just the scale of what you’re working on is a much different scale than I normally work on.”
Co-star Helen Mirren similarly spoke out on the intense costumes for the film, saying during “The Graham Norton Show” (via People) that she got frustrated alongside Lucy Liu at just how heavy the superhero suits were on “Fury of the Gods.”
“We are angry goddesses wearing unbelievably heavy costumes,” Mirren said. “It was very hot and uncomfortable and, in fact, Lucy said at the end of the first day’s shooting, ‘They are trying to kill us’ in all seriousness.”
Lead actor Zachary Levi admitted back in 2019 that donning the outfits was like wearing a “onesie” made for superheroes.
“It’s just the overall kind of uncomfortability sometimes of wearing essentially a massive spandex adult size onesie. It’s super tight, it becomes kind of like a second skin, I would overheat in it. I would freeze in it,” Levi told CinemaBlend in 2019. “The electronics in it would be a dance sometimes. But all of that, whatever, I’ll take all of that times ten if I get to do this again. If I get to be the guy to wear the suit, I’ll take the lumps, I’ll do it.”
“Shazam!” costume designer Leah Butler made headlines revealing that each of the 10 costumes cost upwards of $1 million, leading director David Sandberg to tweet, “Wouldn’t surprise me though…Even during the shooting you’re doing upgrades. The early gauntlets restricted Zac’s hand movement too much. So it’s not like it’s one million dollars in material, or that making one of these would cost that much. It’s the whole process and making multiple copies and versions.”