
Laura Benanti, Zachary Levy.
Getty Images (2)Laura Benanti not a fan of the former Broadway star Zachary Levy — and she doesn’t care who knows.
“I never liked him,” Benanti, 45, said of Levi, 44, during an appearance on the Wednesday, Dec. 4 episode of “This is a gay podcast.”
“Everybody was like, ‘He’s so great!’ And I was like, ‘No, he’s not,'” she recalled. “He sucks up all the fucking energy in this room.”
Benanti also claimed that Levy wanted to “bring the role to everyone” while they were members of the same cast.
The actress claims that Levy tried to get them She loves me cast mates throwing dance parties before every show, which she never liked. (Benanti played Amalia Balasz in the 2016 production, while Levy played Georg Novach.)
“He really got everyone in with his dance party kind of energy. For example, “We’re having a dance party in half an hour,” Benanti recalls. “I said to myself, ‘Good luck. Have fun.
Benanti’s comments came after Levy made headlines in September when he said they were overdue She loves me costar Gavin Creeldeath earlier this year was caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.
“To use his memory for my political agenda and watch him try to make himself cry until he had a single tear that he didn’t wipe away, I thought, ‘Well … you forever,'” Benanti said Wednesday, referring to to Levi’s comments about Creel.
Us Weekly confirmed in September that Creel died aged 48. The Tony Award winner’s cause of death was metastatic melanotic sarcoma of the peripheral nerve sheath. Creel was diagnosed with the very rare form of cancer in July, just two months before he died.
According to the Mayo Clinic, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors are a form of cancer that starts in the spinal cord and spreads throughout the body through the nerves.

Laura Benanti and Zachary Levy.
Donna Ward/Getty ImagesAfter his death, Levy held an Instagram Live where he made controversial statements about Creel.
“I know this is going to offend some people and make some people angry and I wish it wasn’t,” Levy said at the time, via Just Jaredcalling Creel one of the “healthiest” people he knows. Levy then claimed that the COVID vaccination caused Creel’s death.
“I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that Gavin Creel would be alive right now – right now – he would still be alive if that thing hadn’t been put in his body,” he concluded.
Like Benanti, many people reacted with outrage to Levy’s statement, including the Broadway star Norbert Leo Butz.
“I am so incredibly disappointed that you politicized Gavin’s death. I really tried to give you a benefit here. I made it to the halfway mark, which was damn hard, Butz, 57, responded in the comments section. “But (I) was completely devastated, as he would be, that you felt the need to use his life and legacy to promote this horrible platform💔.”
Meanwhile, Benanti honored Creel’s legacy touching social media post in September. “Everyone who has ever met Gavin remembers a moment (or many) when he made them feel noticed and special.” she wrote. “A moment (or many) when they basked in its reflected glow. A moment (or many) when that glow makes its way into their hearts and stays there forever. Gavin was the brightest light in any room. Long may it shine.”