Steven James Zahn ( ; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor. In film, Zahn is best known for his lead roles in ''

That Thing You Do! ''That Thing You Do!'' is a 1996 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom Hanks, in his feature writing and directorial debut. Set in 1960s rock and roll culture, it chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional one-hit won ...

'' (1996), ''

Happy, Texas Happy is a town in Randall and Swisher Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 602 at the 2020 census. The Randall County portion of Happy is part of the Amarillo, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. Toponymy Happy derives ...

'' (1999), '' Joy Ride'' (2001), ''

National Security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

'' (2003), ''

A Perfect Getaway ''A Perfect Getaway'' is a 2009 American thriller film written and directed by David Twohy and starring Timothy Olyphant, Milla Jovovich, Kiele Sanchez, and Steve Zahn. Olyphant, Jovovich, Sanchez, and Zahn portray a group of vacationing ...

'' (2009), the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series (2010–2012), ''

Cowboys A cowboy is a professional pastoralist or mounted livestock herder, usually from the Americas or Australia. Cowboy(s) or The Cowboy(s) may also refer to: Film and television * ''Cowboy'' (1958 film), starring Glenn Ford * ''Cowboy'' (1966 film), ...

'' (2020), and ''

LaRoy, Texas ''LaRoy, Texas'' is a 2023 American crime comedy film written and directed by Shane Atkinson, and starring John Magaro, Steve Zahn, Megan Stevenson, Matthew Del Negro and Dylan Baker. It was released on April 12, 2024. Plot Ray operates his ...

'' (2023). His notable supporting roles in films include ''

Reality Bites ''Reality Bites'' is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and directed by Ben Stiller in his feature directorial debut. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, and Stiller, with supporting roles by Janeane Garofa ...

'' (1994), ''

Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was ...

'' (1998), '' Forces of Nature'' (1999), '' Employee of the Month'' (2004), the ''Stuart Little'' film series (1999–2002), '' Riding in Cars with Boys'' (2001), '' Chicken Little'' (2005), ''

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

'' (2005), ''

Rescue Dawn ''Rescue Dawn'' is a 2006 epic war drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog, based on the true story of Dieter Dengler (played by Christian Bale), a German-American pilot who was shot down and captured by villagers sympathetic to the P ...

'' (2006), ''

Dallas Buyers Club ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in ...

'' (2013), ''

The Good Dinosaur ''The Good Dinosaur'' is a 2015 American animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, from a screenplay written by Meg Le ...

'' (2015), '' Captain Fantastic'' (2016) and ''

War for the Planet of the Apes ''War for the Planet of the Apes'' is a 2017 American science fiction action film directed by Matt Reeves, who co-wrote it with Mark Bomback. The sequel to '' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'' (2014), it is the third installment in the ''Plan ...

'' (2017). In television, Zahn is best known for his main cast credits as Davis McAlary in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' Treme'' (2010–2013), Cobi in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

series '' Mad Dogs'' (2015–2016), Jude Ellis in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

science fiction series '' The Crossing'' (2018), and Mark Mossbacher in season 1 of the HBO anthology series ''

The White Lotus ''The White Lotus'' is an American Black comedy, black comedy drama Anthology series, anthology television series created by Mike White (filmmaker), Mike White for HBO that premiered on July 11, 2021. The series follows the exploits of the gues ...

'' (2021). Zahn received an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

, several nominations for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

and two

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

Early life

Zahn was born on November 13, 1967, in

Marshall, Minnesota Marshall is a city in Lyon County, Minnesota, Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,628 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and 13,906 as of 2023 estimates. Marshall is a regional center in southwest Minnesota ...

, the son of Carleton Edward Zahn, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister, and Zelda Clair Zahn, a bookstore clerk and later a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

administrator.Braun, Liz (February 26, 2001)
"Steve Zahn has a smart funny humour,"
''

Jam! Jam! was a Canadian website which covered entertainment news. It was part of the Canoe.com online portal, formerly owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division, and now owned by Postmedia Network. Jam! was the only media outl ...

''. Retrieved September 15, 2017. His father is of German and Swedish descent, and his mother is of German ancestry. Zahn spent part of his childhood in

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

, attending Kennedy Elementary School, and moved to the suburbs of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

for high school, where he acted in school plays and became a two-time Minnesota state speech champion.Simon, Alex (July 3, 2015)
"Great Conversations: Steve Zahn,"
''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' Retrieved April 9, 2022.Covert, Colin (August 18, 2009)
"Local boy Steve Zahn grows up,"
''

Star Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the List of newspapers in the United States, seventh- ...

'' (Minneapolis). Retrieved September 15, 2017. Zahn graduated from

Robbinsdale Cooper High School Robbinsdale Cooper High School is a 4-year public high school in New Hope, Minnesota, New Hope, Minnesota, a northwest suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States. Cooper, as it is informally known, became an IB World Schools, IB ...

in New Hope in 1986, planning to eventually join the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn Faces Red Carpet for Premiere of Management

Zahn attended

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavu ...

for one semester but dropped out after seeing the original West End production of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

''. "I remember sitting through the second act thinking, I'm as good as that guy standing on the barricade," Zahn recalled. "I wanted to be part of the circus."Riesman, Abraham (July 13, 2017)
"Steve Zahn. Seriously."
''Vulture''. Retrieved September 15, 2017. Zahn later enrolled in the

Institute for Advanced Theater Training The American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theatre (ART/МХАТ) Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University was founded in 1987 as a training ground for the new American Theater by Robert Brustein. The institute has been reside ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, earning a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

Career

In 1991, Zahn made his professional stage debut in a Minnesota production of

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's ''

Biloxi Blues ''Biloxi Blues'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It portrays the conflict of Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey and Arnold Epstein, one of many privates enlisted in the military stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, seen through the eyes of E ...

'' after falsely claiming to be a member of

Actors' Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book or thro ...

. Zahn's fellow actors suggested that Zahn study acting, inspiring him to enroll in

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

's two-year training program.Copley, Rich (June 23, 2016)
"Steve Zahn talks craft and Kentucky at UK's Singletary Center,"
''

Lexington Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...

''. Retrieved on September 15, 2017. At A.R.T., Zahn worked with the stage director

Andrei Șerban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian-United States, American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of ...

. In 1991, Zahn formed the Malaparte theater company with a group of actor friends, including

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

and

Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known professionally as Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Neil Perry in the drama film ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989) and Dr. James Wilson in the med ...

. From 1991 to 1992, Zahn played Hugo Peabody in a national tour of ''

Bye Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The play's book was influenced by El ...

'' starring

Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...

, and subsequently appeared in two Off-Broadway plays, ''Sophistry'' and

Eric Bogosian Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University ...

's ''

Suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

''. After his breakout film role in 1994's ''

'', Zahn quickly gained a reputation for playing amiable stoners, slackers, and sidekicks in films such as ''

'' (1996), ''

You've Got Mail ''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan alongside Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton, Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, and Greg Kinnear. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian ...

'' (1998), and ''

'' (1998).Rabin, Nathan (July 3, 2007)
"Interview: Steve Zahn,"
''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

''. Retrieved April 9, 2022. In the 1990s, Zahn was often approached by fans who assumed that he was an archetypal

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

slacker, which was not the case. Zahn has said, "I'm the guy who gets up at six without an alarm clock. I was always that guy." In 1999, Zahn landed his first starring role in the critically acclaimed indie film ''

'', for which he won a Special Jury Award at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

.Ojumu, Akin (November 13, 1999)
"Steve Zahn's habitual scene-stealing,"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. (London) Retrieved September 15, 2017. In the wake of ''Happy, Texas'', Zahn began playing darker, more nuanced characters. He received

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

buzz for his role as

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...

's deadbeat ex in '' Riding in Cars with Boys'' (2001), and played investigative journalist

Adam Penenberg Adam L. Penenberg (born July 27, 1962) is an American journalist and educator, currently associate professor of journalism at New York University and director of undergraduate studies. He had previously served as editor of PandoDaily and written ...

in '' Shattered Glass'' (2003). A longtime

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

fan, Zahn campaigned for the role of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

prisoner of war Duane W. Martin in Herzog's 2007 film ''

''; to prepare for the role, he lost 40 pounds by eating mostly raw food. Zahn has also worked regularly in television, playing the role of Davis McClary on 36 episodes of

's '' Treme''. From 2010 to 2012, Zahn portrayed Frank Heffley, the father of

Greg Heffley Gregory "Greg" Heffley is a fictional character in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' franchise, serving as the antiheroic main protagonist and unreliable narrator of the books, online series, and multimedia franchise. He was created by Jeff Kinney, ...

, in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series. In 2017, Zahn played Bad Ape in ''

''. He researched the role by watching

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

videos on YouTube, and later said that the

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...

process and lengthy

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

takes made Bad Ape "the most challenging acting job I've ever had".

Personal life

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. The couple married in 1994 and have two children. In the 1990s, they bought a cabin in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and then a farm in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, near the

Delaware Water Gap The Delaware Water Gap is a water gap on the border of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania where the Delaware River cuts through a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. The gap makes up the southern portion of the Delaware Wa ...

. They next moved to a 36-acre horse farm outside

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, where Zahn gardens and raises horses, goats, and sheep. He and his wife also run a local community theater, in which Zahn occasionally performs. He also has a lake cabin near

Pine City, Minnesota Pine City is a city in and the county seat of Pine County, Minnesota, Pine County, in east central Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,130 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Part of the city is on the Mille Lacs Indian Re ...

, where he enjoys tubing and fishing with his children. Zahn is a

. Zahn is a lifelong military history buff and has said that one of his biggest regrets was having turned down a role in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''."Steve Zahn,"
interviewed by Doug Boyd (May 29, 2013). Colonel Arthur L. Kelly American Veterans Oral History Collection, University of Kentucky Libraries. Retrieved September 15, 2017. In 2007, Zahn was awarded an honorary Ph.D. in Fine Arts from

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky, United States. Established in 1968, it is the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities. The university has seven constituent colleges in arts and science ...

. A

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

sports fan, Zahn is often seen at games and events.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theatre

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zahn, Steve 1967 births 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American Lutherans American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American people of German descent American people of Swedish descent Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male winners Sundance Film Festival award winners Institute for Advanced Theater Training, Harvard University alumni Living people Male actors from Minnesota Northern Kentucky University alumni People from Georgetown, Kentucky People from Marshall, Minnesota Comedians from Minnesota