I wanted his honesty to come off as a good thing, even though it's really his Achilles heel. He was driving cross country. Right, its not like when youre acting in Diary of a Wimpy Kid.Exactly. And that's what I love about the show. Weve all done CGI where youre in front of a green screen pretending youre on the Titanic or wherever, you know? This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. My son's 21. Its about filling it with something else, you know what I mean? The rest, as they say, is history. Fox and Nathan Lane in 1999's M. Night Shyamalan-scripted animated/live-action confection Stuart Little. Photographed by Egan Parks Steve Zahn was running a few minutes late because he was tending to a horse who had had surgery. That was actually for a Mardi Gras outfit. And now I'm finding, "Oh yeah, no, I'll wear this.". I worked with New York actors in it. Over the course of nearly three decades hes garnered recognition for playing an array of stoners, slackers, screw-ups, and oddballs, but once you start talking to him, you realize thats all an expertly executed act. [3] His father is of German and Swedish descent, and his mother is of German ancestry. If you're wondering why Steve Zahn hasn't been appearing in many Hollywood projects of late, it's likely due to the fact that he lives about as far away from the Hollywood scene as you can get. But just, you know, your responsibility as a leader on set, your responsibilities. [14][15], Zahn met author and theater artist Robyn Peterman, the daughter of clothier J. Peterman, while they were performing in a national tour of Bye Bye Birdie in 1991. Whats a distinctive memory you have from shooting it? Then my wife wakes up and starts her writing. I just dont want this business to define my life. Mark is going through this big existential crisis. It's kind of too late, it's too far down the road, but they do have this connection. What do you guys farm out there?We have horses and goats. I never had to restrict games and stuff like that because there was a lot of shit to do. "I've played bad guys, I've played good guys, dumb guys, smart guys," he says. I want to think that there's a glimmer of hope, but man, I don't know. With a list of nearly 100 film credits including Dallas Buyers Club, Saving Silverman, Diary of A Wimpy Kid and so many more, Steve talks about his beginnings in acting and what projects he has coming up next. Steve Zahn is one of the most passionate and entertaining Kentucky fans around, which is why it only makes sense that the program's finally getting him involved. In truth, the series was merely the first time he showed his face in a full-fledged family film. If that doesn't affect your work, having kids, then you're not human. Connie Britton and Steve Zahn as Nicole and Mark Mossbacher. The first movie I did, Reality Bites, I came back home and I was poorer than when I started. It was something that I enjoyed doing. All 165 Pink Floyd Songs Ranked, From Worst to Best. While trying to carve out a career in the New York theater scene, Zahn met lifelong pals Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard. Steven James Zahn (/zn/;[1] born November 13, 1967)[2] is an American actor and comedian. Hes a New Yorker man. "Now I'm just all those guys, but they have kids . I think of myself as Hamlet, but I'm not. Of course, one of his most frequent collaborators is his old Reality Bites pal Ethan Hawke, who appeared in the title role opposite Zahn's Rosencrantz in the marvelous 2000 version of Hamlet before directing Zahn in Chelsea Walls and his 2018 indie hit Blaze. But make it great. Off we go with Steve Zahn on a four-wheeler throu 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). 'The White Lotus' Star Steve Zahn on White Privilege, Prosthetic Penises and Why He Never Gets Recognized "I live on a farm in Kentucky I haven't had one person come up to me and say, "Oh,. Great.". And all of us are going up to Erie to a minor league ballpark for Wonders Night, which is kind of fun. I pick tomatoes, I go grocery shopping. You know, the disc jockey at the station that talks fast or whatever. I wanted his honesty to come off as a good thing, even though it's really his Achilles heel. Connie Britton and Steve Zahn as Nicole and Mark Mossbacher. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. 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. Its a chick flick! I took a year off after Apes. Of course, appearances are often deceiving, especially in the context of the entertainment business. 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. Isn't that weird?" It's sad to me to see him try to connect with his son. There are closets in this house they're filled with coats that have never been worn and still have the paper over the buttons. Do something. That made me laugh: "Oh, I've been a monkey in two films. [10], After his breakout film role in 1994's Reality Bites, Zahn quickly gained a reputation for playing amiable stoners, slackers, and sidekicks in films such as That Thing You Do! It reminded me of doing this experimental theater I did at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge in 1989. But someone got sick, so I had to jump in and get permission from [Actors] Equity to hit the stage in this Christmas show. We're kind of fucked up, aren't we? I remember having to ask Mike, Just total raw, primitive? I don't think I was doing it correctly at first. I was like, "Oh geez, no, this is crazy." I did one episode of Friends. Steve Zahn: It was so difficult. Steve Zahn. I never had to restrict games and stuff like that because there was a lot of shit to do. Well, I will say, it's not something you see on TV a lot. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. They said, If you feel like you need help, just cross your arms and well come get you. First take, everybody crossed their arms. Seriously. You can thank us for that recommendation later. I went to the bathroom at intermission and everyone was peeing and talking about how great the show was, and I remember thinking I dont want to be out here. The way he did it was just great. He was driving cross country. What is real? This is what we're living in right now, it's absolutely insane. Are you kidding? We started a company called Macaroni Art. I did more of a silverback gorilla. Thats a passion of mine. [17] They next moved to a 360-acre horse farm outside Lexington, Kentucky, where Zahn gardens and raises horses, goats, and sheep. 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. [Laughs] Oh, yeah! They were always out doing stuff. You're always reminded of how small and insignificant we are, and I think that's what's liberating about it. Still, few actors from that era were quite as prolific or as consistently entertaining as this brashly energetic performer. We do musicals and we do acting classes, and its a real vibrant community with great talent and its as fulfilling as anything I do. It's kind of a fun chapter of my life being on this side. Steve Zahn has played all kinds of guys. I wear it every Fourth of July when I light off fireworks. I have a lot of wigs for Mardi Gras outfits. GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The way he did it was just great. Its just such an enduring movie, so I assumed.You can usually tell when somebody comes up, you can guess what they recognize you from. Its nun versus AI in Damon Lindelofs new series. Filming in Hawaii wasnt a bad deal either, and at least the cast seemed to appreciate it more than their fictional counterparts. But the irony is that I played a chimpanzee in Planet of the Apes. That kind of stuff that I think maybe people take for granted. Fred Hechinger and Steve Zahn as Quinn and Mark Mossbacher. 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. Saving Silverman, interesting. Its insane, yknow? It was great. I dont know. For the past 15 years or so, Zahn has been living the working man's life with his family in rural Kentucky. In the last five years, I've said it daily. I was like, "Oh, okay, cool." All the [musical] performances. How does this show compare to your own familys vacations? Instead, he got to hang out at four-star resort with Connie Britton, who plays his wife. He thinks he has cancer, then finds out his dad is gay and died from AIDS. Were actually by the waterfall. Steve Zahn, 69. I played Clante in The Miser. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Steve Zahn visited Conan Tuesday night and gave a loopy interview about life on his farm in Kentucky. Its like, Hey, remember this? And youre like, Yeah, I havent even seen it! Oh, sure. I have great irises. Zahn, 53, has a farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. Its like, I just wanna be on set. I mean, what happens in my business is, we're telling stories about people. Yeah, thats pretty dramatic. But he has good intentions. The funny thing is, Mike actually stopped by here. CoachCal.com's TJ Beisner just teased a new segment featuring the actor and players that already looks hilarious: @TJBeisner @TJBeisner "Life on a farm is serene," says Zahn, "until your horse goes lame and you have to turn into a vet." Related To Nathan Zahn, Carolyn Zahn, Janice Zahn, Carol Zahn, Marie Zahn. Apply Bed Bath and Beyond coupon and save 25% off your entire purchase, Target Circle: up to 50% Off with Target promo code, With Asos Promo Code you take 70% OFF Select styles, Michael Kors promo code: sign up for KORSVIP + Get 10% off on First Order, 2023 Cond Nast. And then I read the part, and its a great part, and I thought, Wow! When my son graduated from high school, we went to France. I'm like a kid. Click here to subscribe. Steve Zahn: It was so difficult. It always goes back to a huge tortoise. FARMFLIP #343864. I loved being an actor in New York, it was so exciting. You'll die laughing at STEVE ZAHN's story of NOT being recognized Really Famous with Kara Mayer Robinson 7.19K subscribers Subscribe 69 Share 4.5K views 1 year ago #SteveZahn #ComedyActing Get. Yeah, totally. Zahn, 53, spoke about the show, prosthetic penises and his traumatic history of shooting underwater. His film roles include Reality Bites (1994), Stuart Little (1999), Shattered Glass (2003), Sahara (2005), Chicken Little (2005), the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (20102012), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), The Good Dinosaur (2015), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). Of course." Steve Zahn was a special guest on today's show and he had Matt and Ryan laughing hysterically for the entire two hours. More recently, Zahn appeared as a small-town sheriff in way over his head on ABC's mind-bending sci-fi drama The Crossing. I like Westerns and I like war flicks, and if I get something like that, I get really excited like I'm 12 years old. And I remember asking Mike, "You don't want full frontal, right?" People come up to me all the time about it. Yeah. Rescue Dawn wasnt exactly a comedy. I have so many costumes, so I look for opportunities to wear them. With special guests and the latest news from the NBA, hear personal stories as Rex and Josh rose to the top of their careers from humble beginnings in Lexington, KY. (1996), You've Got Mail (1998), and Out of Sight (1998). There, they raise horses and goats and all manner of produce. This interview has been edited and condensed. Hed been hunkering down there during the pandemic, light on work, when the script for The White Lotus came his way. Still, it wasn't until the early 2000s that Zahn went full sidekick, and it's a role he played to near perfection opposite the likes of Martin Lawrence in National Security, Eddie Murphy in Daddy Day Care, Penlope Cruz and Salma Hayek in Bandidas, and Matthew McConaughey in Sahara. I'm not going to be doing streaking scenes down the street and stuff.. And I always get these stoner, urban types. Yu Tsai These days, Zahn, who is starring in the new HBO Max film 8-Bit Christmas, is back to working out on the Kentucky farm he calls home and running about 25 miles every. 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. You've worked in Hollywood for a long timeis that attitude something that you've encountered a lot and taken as a cautionary tale? Graduated from Robbinsdale-Cooper Senior High School, New Hope, Minnesota. He researched the role by watching chimpanzee videos on YouTube, and later said that the motion capture process and lengthy digital takes made Bad Ape "the most challenging acting job I've ever had". Have there been any times in your life when youve worked through something similar? That was something we shot at the end of the day, and Tom [Hanks] kept having ideas like, Youre playing crazy eights! Id be like, Oh, thatd be great! I remember all this stuff we did, like just eating the candy on the plane and how Tom would just encourage all this kind of great, funny, stupid shit. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. In a way, that balance is a nice reflection of Zahns approach to his career. So everybodys famous because everybody knows everybody?Well, actually, Sam Shepard lives out there. It was horribly critically panned and did no money. But yeah, I think we lose touch, especially nowadays. He has nothing. But the irony is that I played a chimpanzee in Planet of the Apes. I remember seeing Les Miserables with the original cast this was in 87 and I was blown away by it. And then when it happened, it was like, "Oh right. In those early years, how close did you ever come to saying, Screw it, this isnt working out, I should try something else? I have kids this age [of Marks], a little older. [3][7] The couple married in 1994 and have two children. But good to have you back!. It just makes you look at how trivial so much of our problems are. But he has good intentions. We were in the barn and I was taking care of my horsehe just had surgery, so I'm a vet. That's so insane. Youve got to look for opportunities to wear it. Awesome.". Wow.There are some movies you forget. [Laughs] Yeah, theyre gonna remake Das Boot. He just doesn't know how to do that. Every night, we'd be down on the beach, watching the sunset, he says. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories, Steve Zahn has played all kinds of guys. I got to say, for three days, thats all I did, was try to perfect this scene. People are like, Are you ? And Im like, No! Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. He's like, "No, no, we're going to use a prosthetic." We were at the Maui Four Seasons. Dont get me wrong. Youve got to look for opportunities to wear it. Theres a scene where were all drowning in the sub. Zahn lives on a 360-acre horse farm just outside Lexington, Kentucky, where he raises horses, goats, and sheep with his wife, Robyn Peterman, who is . But that movie? Youre pretending double that youre this person youre not, and youre in a different environment. Have a bourbon. I was always that guy. The famous actor, now a resident of Scott County, came on to talk about his passion for UK football and his life as a Kentuckian. I learned all that stuff too. The technology has come along so far that when you see us on horses, were on horses. But I auditioned with him and it was great! Were by a waterfall? It's kind of a fun chapter of my life being on this side. [2], Zahn attended Gustavus Adolphus College for one semester but dropped out after seeing the original West End production of Les Misrables. Mark is going through this big existential crisis. I'm the activities director here I mean, I'm not like Mark. 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