We All Need to Admit That We Failed Steve Zahn

[Mila Eryomina]

Steve Zahn is a deeply talented actor who has also been often misused or misunderstood by the mainstream film industry.

It never fails to be delightful when Steve Zahn prances across the silver screen. Any time he shows up in a movie, no matter the genre, he’s always a welcome presence. Zahn’s capable of inhabiting so many different kinds of cinematic storytelling and always feeling organic and committed to the worlds he’s inhabiting. Despite this, Zahn always seems to be underappreciated in Hollywood. It’s not like he’s appeared in zero masterpieces or enduring classics. It’s just that the film industry constantly casting him in subpar works seems to indicate a lack of understanding that Zahn is a talented guy who can do more than just be the dad in a trio of Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies. Hollywood has failed Steve Zahn in a number of ways, though it’s a testament to his talent and versatility that he’s managed to leave a mark on the film industry nonetheless

Steve Zahn Was Misused!

The biggest way Hollywood undersold the gifts of Steve Zahn as an actor was by assuming this guy could only function in the world of comedies. In the 2000s, Zahn headlined a swarm of forgotten comedic duds like Strange Wilderness and National Security. Even Zahn’s one foray into big-budget blockbuster cinema in this era was Matthew McConaughey’s comic relief sidekick in Sahara. Few of these titles made especially good use of Zahn’s talents, and they weren’t anywhere near popular enough to get Zahn extra exposure as a performer. It was a genre that just didn’t serve Zahn well and gave him a reputation for being appropriate for Happy Madison comedies rather than more substantive cinematic fare.

Worse, the failure of these projects was attributed to Zahn rather than the dismal scripts or concepts he was attached to. The demise of a movie at the box office is always such a complicated topic that stems from a multitude of factors. There isn’t one tidy reason any piece of art fails to gain momentum with the public, it’s usually a confluence of elements that have all collided in a most unfortunate manner. In this case, there was so much else going on to inform why people wouldn’t be interested in seeing Sahara beyond just Zahn’s face on the poster. Unfortunately, Zahn seemed to be the one who took the fall for the financial demise of these productions more than anyone else.

Meanwhile, Hollywood also misunderstood Zahn’s abilities as an actor greatly. The film industry just never took him seriously as someone with leading man chops, which is bewildering. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a supporting player or a character actor. Many performers have excelled in careers hinging on these kinds of roles and Zahn’s managed to excel in these kinds of opportunities in tons of movies before, including in a hysterical turn in Out of Sight and an award-nominated performance in the Werner Herzog title Rescue Dawn. However, it's not the only area where Zahn can excel as a performer. Rare leading man roles like Cowboys have demonstrated that he's got the skills to also function well in a leading man capacity. Variety is the spice of life and, unfortunately, Hollywood has not seen that Zahn is versatile enough to work beyond the confines of a supporting performance.

Zahn’s Still Cultivated a Remarkable Body of Work

Looking over Zahn's body of work, it's certainly disappointing to see the lulls in his filmography, when his talent was going untapped in Hollywood. This is especially apparent in the first half of the 2010s when his only live-action acting roles were as father Frank Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid saga, a disposable role in The Ridiculous 6, the indie comedy Knights of Badassdom, and the breath of fresh air that was his supporting part in Best Picture nominee Dallas Buyers Club. There are countless movies released in this era that would've undoubtedly benefited from Zahn's talents. Instead, there was a lack of imagination in being able to see Zahn as anything but a figure from early 2000s comedy cinema.

Even with these discouraging patches of his career, Zahn’s still cultivated a slew of roles over the years that have cemented his talent and made it clear his creative legacy is going to go on and on. Granted, this does make Hollywood’s constant misunderstanding of his talents all the more frustrating, but it also offers up a way of appreciating what Zahn’s done rather than solely mourning what he hasn’t. Happily, the last seven-ish years of American cinema have seen Zahn showing up in more varied works, including acclaimed indie titles like Cowboys and Lean on Pete. Zahn's now become a welcome character actor in such pieces, a much more nuanced archetype for him to inhabit than just a boilerplate comic sidekick. It's also allowed him to inhabit much more interesting performances, with his work in Anna Kerrigan's Cowboys being a career highlight for Zahn.

Zahn also recently got to deliver one of the best motion-capture performances in history as Bad Ape in War for the Planet of the Apes. A circus ape with a good grasp of the English language, Zahn’s extensive experience with comic timing serves the lighter parts of this role well. However, when Bad Ape is called to depict rawer, more harrowing emotions, Zahn is up to the task. Beneath digital makeup, this actor communicates real pain and grief. It could’ve been easy to just make Bad Ape a clown, especially given how often Zahn’s been reduced to just being a goofball with no substance. But Apes is a summer blockbuster that gave Zahn a chance to handle some real weight and humanity.

Zahn’s talents have also been utilized in a variety of major streaming and premium-cable TV shows, namely the HBO program The White Lotus and the Showtime production George & Tammy, the latter of which saw Zahn playing the third-billed character on the show beneath Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon. These high-profile projects were great ways to put Zahn's talents on people's radars while the complicated tone of The White Lotus once again allowed Zahn to demonstrate his chops with handling more than just broad comedy.

It's such a shame Hollywood has only recently been able to consistently deliver a variety of productions that take advantage of Zahn’s gifts. Even then, Zahn’s modern-day filmography is still home to forgotten projects like 8-Bit Christmas, which aren’t a good use of his gifts as a performer. Still, even subpar movies, like the animated Chicken Little which featured lively voice work from Zahn as Runt of the Litter, have made one appreciate the many talents Steve Zahn possesses as an actor. In his greatest works, meanwhile, Steve Zahn is downright dazzling…which just makes Hollywood’s misunderstanding of his strengths all the more disappointing.

[Anna Roccova]

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