Laura Benanti starred opposite Zachary Levi and the late, great Gavin Creel in She Loves Me on Broadway in 2016 – but her experience with the actors was very different.

The Tony Award-winning actress was particularly candid during her appearance on “That’s a Gay Ass Podcast” on Wednesday, bluntly revealing that she “never liked” the “Chuck” star, especially now that his political beliefs have become a topic of conversation.

“Yeah, I never liked him. Everybody said, ‘He’s so great,’ and I said, ‘No, he’s not.'” “He soaks up all the damn energy in that room and wants to explain the roles to everyone,” Benanti remembers. “He really captivated everyone with his dance party energy, saying, ‘We’re having a dance party on the half hour.’ I thought, ‘Good luck, have fun.’”

However, it wasn’t just a personality conflict that led to Benanti publicly disemboweling Levi eight years later. As podcast host Eric Williams noted, the “Harold and the Purple Crayon” actor paid tribute to his former co-star Creel following his death from cancer at age 48 in September … by suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines actually cause “turbo cancer.” could have caused. in him.

“I know this will offend and make some people angry, and I wish that wasn’t the case,” Levi said in an Instagram Live video in October. “A few weeks ago my friend Gavin Creel died. He was 48 years old and one of the healthiest people I knew.”

“You better believe, I believe with everything in me, that if these COVID vaccinations weren’t forced on the American public…” he then trailed off.

Benanti didn’t mince her words on Wednesday when she responded to Levi’s stance: “That he’s using the memory of Gavin – a person he wasn’t friends with – to use his memory for his political agenda and watch him do it.” as he tries to make himself cry until he did. “One single tear that he didn’t wipe away, I thought, ‘Fk you forever.'”

She also admitted that having the “Tangled” voice actor embrace his more conservative side will actually help his career, contrary to what others may think.

“And everyone says, ‘This is career suicide.’ But it’s not career suicide, because Christian, faith-based television and film is huge. He will be a huge star in this area. He’s going to make more money than he’s ever made before,” Benanti said. “I feel nauseous, but also a bit like I’m saying, ‘I told you so, mother.'”

Notably, Benanti and Levi worked together again shortly after their musical ended in 2017’s Tangled: Before Ever After, as well as two episodes of the spin-off series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure.

TheWrap has reached out to the Levi’s team for comment.