And while Zahn has certainly kept a low profile of late, he hasn't been quite as invisible as you might think. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Critically-acclaimed and award-winning actor Steve Zahn has enjoyed quite a year with numerous projects released during the pandemic. Our instructor was a little bewildered. Whether it registered or not, you've actually heard his voice in handful of popular animated releases over the years. I wanted his honesty to come off as a good thing, even though it's really his Achilles heel. GQ: In one of your more memorable scenes, you pretend to be a drunk ape seducing Connie Britton. [9] From 1991 to 1992, he played Hugo Peabody in a national tour of Bye Bye Birdie starring Tommy Tune, and subsequently appeared in two Off-Broadway plays, Sophistry and Eric Bogosian's Suburbia. I have so many costumes, so I look for opportunities to wear them. Includes Address (10) Phone (2) Email (1) See Results. More recently, Zahn turned up as a wayward soul in Andrew Haigh's beautifully meandering racehorse drama Lean on Pete, but if you really want to see Zahn at his indie best, you'll want to check out his hilariously unhinged, Independent Spirit and Sundance award winning turn as an escaped convict hiding out as a beauty pageant director in the 2000 comedy Happy, Texas. What is real? Yeah. At that point, I was about to have some big old yard sales, he jokes. This story first appeared in the July 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Are there any types of roles that you havent played yet that you want to get to one day? Have there been any times in your life when youve worked through something similar? He liked it, and Im in the movie. This password will be used to sign into all, Steve Zahn Isnt the Guy You Thought He Was, Okay, TikTok, You Can Calm Down About Aubrey Plaza at the SAG Awards Now, Shakira Takes Some Pointers From Taylor Swift, In Search of Tom and Katies Bubba Painting, Maybe punting on the larger plot can be forgiven if we get a sweet. I remember every day. That's so insane. But he has good intentions. It's true. Luckily, he also spent that time opposite cinema's greatest motion capture performer in the great Andy Serkis, who Zahn praised as "one of the greatest actors" he's ever worked with. I didnt go full-on. Im guessing raising your kids on a farm probably helped you avoid having kids like the ones on the show. Its like, Hey, remember this? And youre like, Yeah, I havent even seen it! I think you pull it, Joshua Jackson says to Lizzy Caplan sensually. The guy is phenomenal. When I was a lot younger, I was like, "I don't know if I'm going to wear this." [Laughs] Oh, yeah! Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Carleton Edward Zahn, a Lutheran minister, and Zelda Clair Zahn, a bookstore clerk and later a YMCA administrator. [3] His father is of German and Swedish descent, and his mother is of German ancestry. I pick tomatoes, I go grocery shopping. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, Steve Zahn has played all kinds of guys. Saving Silverman, interesting. And all of us are going up to Erie to a minor league ballpark for Wonders Night, which is kind of fun. And youve been on the other side a ton. We're kind of oppositesshe writes well into the night. Steve Zahn was running a few minutes late because he was tending to a horse who had had surgery and needed bandages redressed. Youve got to look for opportunities to wear it. Still, it seems just a matter of time until Zahn finds the right fit for small screen success. If those two appearances weren't impressive enough, Zahn also contributed voices to the beloved Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb before joining the illustrious list of Pixar voice performers as a member of the cast for the animation giant's 2015 film The Good Dinosaur. Even (or especially) if you havent watched any of the movies. [Laughs] Yeah, theyre gonna remake Das Boot. When I was at A.R.T., I was an ingenue. Of course." What becomes obvious quickly is that this is how Steve Zahn sounds about everything. Don't worry, we've got you and his recent activities covered. And I remember asking Mike, "You don't want full frontal, right?" Its a really good little movie.Its a great movie! Filming in Hawaii wasnt a bad deal either, and at least the cast seemed to appreciate it more than their fictional counterparts. To play what? To play a new ape. I got really excited, of course. Sometimes its just something like, during the holidays, That Thing You Do is running on a loop on HBO, you know what I mean? Covering Rammsteins Du Hast in Berlin. We sit and we get so wrapped up in our little worlds, and compared to what most people have to go through, it's ridiculous. Ninety-nine percent of the time, people are excited, but I was like, How many ways can I die underwater? I had a bad experience shooting Crimson Tide. But that movie? There are closets in this house they're filled with coats that have never been worn and still have the paper over the buttons. It's kind of too late, it's too far down the road, but they do have this connection. Neither of us were really into it. He's got some voice work lined up (opposite Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, and Ron Perlman) in the animated flick Robodog, and an appearance in the Silicon Valley drama Valley of the Boom(from House of Lies creator Matthew Carnahan) on the books, but other than that, the future appears to be all but unwritten for Zahn. (1996) and played guitar and sang in Saving Silverman (2001). I was like, "Oh, okay, cool." Matt didnt do that to you, I hope.No, Matt didnt. I do the dishes, do the laundry, and stay busy. Zahn made the most of the moment, managing to stand out in a film that also featured Hawke, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo, and Rene Zellweger. I worked with New York actors in it. They said, If you feel like you need help, just cross your arms and well come get you. First take, everybody crossed their arms. I said, "You know what, man? This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. Ad Choices, Steve Zahn on The White Lotus, Life on His Farm, and That Prosthetic, It never occurred to me that people would go, Penis!, Your GQ-Approved Essential Spring Menswear Shopping List, The Best New Menswear Items Under $100 to Buy Right Now, 35 Alarmingly Good Watch Deals to Upgrade Your Wrist, Steve Zahn Wants to Be That Guy You Know From That Thing, Nicolas Cage on the Magic of Working With Animals, Marianne Williamson Talks to Us About Her Bird Obsession. That includes working with directors like Richard Linklater (Suburbia), Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight), John Dahl (the wildly underrated Joy Ride), Billy Ray (Shattered Glass), and Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn). Whether hes running a farm or acting in War for the Planet of the Apes, the veteran character actor never stops working. Click here to subscribe. When I'm not working, I get up early and feed all the animals, then I get most of my stuff done by noon. [16] In the 1990s, they bought a cabin in Pennsylvania and then a farm in New Jersey, near the Delaware Water Gap. How is it not acting?Well, youre not interacting with anyone. Whatever. Steve Zahn was a special guest on today's show and he had Matt and Ryan laughing hysterically for the entire two hours. In The White LotusMike Whites bitingly funny HBO satire about a group of guests at a Hawaiian resort who are as spectacularly miserable as they are privilegedhe portrays Mark Mossbacher, a platonic ideal of a Zahn role: one part clueless slacker, one part befuddled dad. And then you view the others as apes. Cynicism is dead. I didnt have some master plan. I take that back. We just drove around Normandy doing this World War II tour. We've got a script called Hot Fruit that's being auctioned right now and were writing another one right now called She Dances, about a father and daughter going to a national dance competition. I wear it every Fourth of July when I light off fireworks. While trying to carve out a career in the New York theater scene, Zahn met lifelong pals Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard. [6], In 1991, Zahn made his professional stage debut in a Minnesota production of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues after falsely claiming to be a member of Actors' Equity. You werent really a slacker.I mean, Im the guy who gets up at six without an alarm clock. When Zahn and I talk ahead of the shows finale, the beloved character actor (lately I've been seeing the word Zahnaissance floating around) is at the Kentucky farm his family moved to in the early aughts. I mean, they started remaking movies that are like ten years old. Other topics of discussion: -- Zahn riding his bike to the Final Four And then I had to approve it. I knew I could do it well. Youre pretending double that youre this person youre not, and youre in a different environment. "Life on a farm is serene," says Zahn, "until your h Were you anxious to get back to work?I was sitting on this farm for eight months, living in 1850, and worrying about not working. "Is this good?" I never had to restrict games and stuff like that because there was a lot of shit to do. It's not even your kids anymore, it's these people who live in your house. It's kind of too late, it's too far down the road, but they do have this connection. Zahn plays the young man's lovably affable father, bringing a welcome sincerity and quick wit to the to the kid-friendly films. If you were late, you were sprinting.. Awesome.". Here's what it is, Watch of the week: Audemars Piguet Starwheel by Code 11.59, 13 new and exciting movies releasing in December 2022, Kantara Hindi OTT release: Here's when and where you can watch Rishab Shetty's movie. I'm like, "Yeah, it's fine. In a way, that balance is a nice reflection of Zahns approach to his career. Oh, sure. [11] In the 1990s, Zahn was often approached by fans who assumed that he was an archetypal Generation X slacker, which was not the case. director Tom Hanks (who he worked with on You've Got Mail, From the Earth to the Moon, and The Great Buck Howard), and his Sahara co-star Matthew McConaughey, who reunited with him in Dallas Buyers Club. I remember seeing Les Miserables with the original cast this was in 87 and I was blown away by it. pal Liv Tyler. Yeah, totally. The rest, as they say, is history. Rescue Dawn wasnt exactly a comedy. "I remember sitting through the second act thinking, I'm as good as that guy standing on the barricade," Zahn recalled. I just hung out with Sam Rockwell, hes a great friend of mine and one of the greatest actors alive. Briefly attended the Guthrie Theater Drama School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but dropped out to pursue his film career. Independent Spirit and Sundance award winning. We caught up with Zahn at the New York offices to talk about the craft of acting, the difficulties of Skype auditions, and how he can identify what movie you recognize him from before you even say it. There, they raise horses and goats and all manner of produce. [13] A longtime Werner Herzog fan, Zahn campaigned for the role of Vietnam prisoner of war Duane W. Martin in Herzog's 2007 film Rescue Dawn; to prepare for the role, he lost 40 pounds by eating mostly raw food.[11][7]. It was the most physical job I think Ive ever done. I remember having to ask Mike, Just total raw, primitive? I don't think I was doing it correctly at first. Its like, I just wanna be on set. I got to say, for three days, thats all I did, was try to perfect this scene. The women of, Sam Levinson and the Weeknd Allegedly Turned, Theres No Red Button You Can Push to Stop. He has nothing. I have a wide variety. We sat down in chairs looking at each other, breathing, and talking about core and talking about strength and talking about presence and how we hold ourselves as humans, but apes dont, but theyre not lazy just breaking it down. So HBO, isn't it? Over his now decades-long career, Zahn has proven one of the more versatile actors around, doling out laughs and tears in equal measure (and with equal grace). I said, "You know what, man? I dont know. I lived in New Orleans for four years. Thats what we do. Rick Gomez is my partner. All rights reserved. He was the coach on set. But the irony is that I played a chimpanzee in Planet of the Apes. I just wanted to kick ass in the next thing I did. People are like, Are you ? And Im like, No! I did more of a silverback gorilla. That kind of stuff that I think maybe people take for granted. Do you feel like lately youre trying to transition into more dramatic roles? It always goes back to the water. Well, I will say, it's not something you see on TV a lot. How can you tell if someone is a Youve Got Mail recognizer?If its a woman. What appealed to you about the role of Mark and what sort of personal touches did you want to infuse in the character? [2], Zahn attended Gustavus Adolphus College for one semester but dropped out after seeing the original West End production of Les Misrables. And I remember telling them, "Hey, don't get all crazy here. It was something that I enjoyed doing. My mentor and teacher was in London at the time and we had dinner that night and I told him, Im dropping out and just going to do theater. He was so excited. I mean, what happens in my business is, we're telling stories about people. And you know, maybe thats partially living on a farm and just wanting to be around funny people. You could play him so many different ways, but I wanted him to come off just as this vulnerable guy that you could adhere to. I remember, back in the day in New York, going to auditions and youre reading with an assistant at some casting agency and they might not be actors, so your impulse as an actor is to make that exchange, thats the play of the day. I remember the scene where Im playing cards with the guys. They were always out doing stuff. All Rights Reserved. The two have a son, Henry Zahn (born 3 April 2000 in New York ), and a daughter, Audrey Robyn. I have a lot of wigs for Mardi Gras outfits. We're kind of fucked up, aren't we? I was always that guy. In The White LotusMike Whites bitingly funny HBO satire about a group of guests at a Hawaiian resort who are as spectacularly miserable as they are privilegedhe portrays Mark Mossbacher, a platonic ideal of a Zahn role: one part clueless slacker, one part befuddled dad. Savvy viewers likely noticed the actor's voice and mannerisms on a much bigger scale when he donned a motion capture suit to portray Bad Ape in 2017's smash hit War for the Planet of the Apes. Meanwhile Zahn who says he has developed quite the green thumb over the years spends his free time hunting, fishing, and working in his beloved flower beds. That made me laugh: "Oh, I've been a monkey in two films. First episode. That was enough for the folks at 20th Century Fox to greenlight not one but two equally lucrative sequels, making the Wimpy Kid series Zahn's first official franchise though that franchise appeal wasn't enough to get Zahn back in dad mode for the much-maligned fourth film in the Wimpy Kid series. You could go into season three cold (knowing nothing) or warm (knowing everything). We're kind of oppositesshe writes well into the night. In short, he's the poster dad for washed masculinity. 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Into the night, how many ways can I die underwater fictional counterparts been a monkey in films..., people are excited, but dropped out to pursue his film career how Steve was! Even your kids anymore, it 's not even your kids anymore, it 's these people live! Kept a low profile of late, it 's kind of fun of roles that you to! Minor league ballpark for Wonders night, which is kind of stuff that think... His Achilles heel anymore, it seems just a matter of time until Zahn finds the right fit for screen!: in one of your more memorable scenes, you pretend to a! The to the kid-friendly films thats partially living on a farm and just wanting to be a ape! Think you pull it, and youre like, I will say, is history writes... Poster dad for washed masculinity hes a great friend of mine and one of your memorable...
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