Original-Cin Q&A: Steve Zahn talks his movie Cowboys, catching hell from Tom Hanks, and Christian Bale's little known sense of humour
Writer/drector Anna Kerrigan’s Cowboys had its premiere at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival walking away with wins for Best screenplay and a Best Actor award for its star Steve Zahn.
Zahn has had a year with numerous projects released during the pandemic. And he stands out in Cowboys as Troy, a well-intentioned father who runs off with his trans son into the Montana wilderness after his ex-wife refuses to let their child live as his authentic self.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Steve Zahn from his home in Kentucky about why he felt compelled to play this role and why it felt so personal.
Cowboys will be available on VOD on February 12th
Steve Zahn and Sasha Knight play a bi-polar ex-convict and his transgender son on the run
ORIGINAL-CIN: Congratulations on this film and winning the Best Actor award at Tribeca.
STEVE ZAHN: Thank you
O-C: We know you for your comedic roles, but over the past few years you have been tackling dramatic parts. What was it about this script that really touched your heart?
ZAHN: I read it and I was immediately so moved by it. I was so blown away by the story dealing with this subject without hitting it over the head. Showing these very flawed people doing the best they can.
I honestly thought this would be one of the greatest parts ever offered to me, and I think it’s the best one I've ever played. The part of Troy was just so layered and flawed and funny and sad and complicated.
So, I talked it over with the writer/director Anna Kerrigan and convinced her that I should play the part and I'm really glad I did. It's so rare when you read a script like that and react like that.
O-C: How difficult was it to prepare for this? Here's a guy that not only accepts his child for who they want to be. But then your partner has to deal with being bipolar. He just got out of jail, he’s trying to make a better life. But being bipolar, his actions are at times uncontrollable. So how did you find that balance wanting to be a good dad but not always making the right decisions?
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ZAHN: That was a really interesting aspect to the movie. There's a role reversal which is just brilliant where this kind of childlike man really becomes the child in the end. His son becomes the voice of reason and I thought that was so touching and real. I love that my character Troy loses his medication and that’s when he starts to freak out and lies to his kid.
We talked about what bipolar looks like because it is a big weight and there's so many different ways people experience it. Everybody has a different definition or way they act.
So I said I just don't want it to be nuts, it has to be a big turning point that, when he's off his medication, he begins to lose a grip on his reality. He could be the funnest guy in the world - right? - if you're on the same wavelength, And if you're not then it’s terrifying.
O-C: As a father yourself, how much did that influence you playing this guy?
ZAHN: Oh big time! If you have kids and it doesn't influence your work then you're dead. My kids are older now, but they always do and always have influenced everything that i do. It’s huge, it’s everything. I can't imagine playing a part like this and not having kids.
O-C: Let’s talk about your young co-star Sasha Knight who is pretty extraordinary in the film. I would think you had instant chemistry?
ZAHN: Anna (the director) was great because she said, let's get you both out to the location early so that you can get to know each other.
Zahn (top right) got set straight by director Tom Hanks on That Thing You Do early in his career.
So, that is exactly what we did. We both know how to ride horses, so that didn’t take long. Sasha is a champion rock climber and very athletic, so he had no issues doing any of that.
It was fun. We just hung out for about two weeks, and we read and talked about a lot of things going on in our lives.
I said “Let's get this down so that we can do these lines no matter what we're doing. Because we're going to have to be on horseback and it's going to be a little different than sitting in the hotel.”
I always like to be thorough when I learn my stuff so that is what I do to this day. I over-prepare out of fear so that's what we did. When we got on horseback up in the mountains it was easy-peasy.
O-C: Jillian Bell, who plays your ex-wife was also quite impressive in this film.
ZAHN: She was awesome and so sweet, willing to do just about anything for this film. The beauty of working on this was that we all got along so well.
Jillian and I worked hard on it off the camera. And we talked a lot about the traps that we had to avoid, both of us individually and as a parental unit.
We couldn't wait to show love. They have two different parenting styles, but at the end of the day they’re just doing the best they can.
O-C: Aren’t we all?
ZAHN: Exactly, and that’s what is so beautiful about the script.
O-C: I have this theory and you fit right into the mold. Why do funny people make such good dramatic actors?
ZAHN: I think most of the funny people I know are pretty serious people really.
To be honest, I know Christian Bale, not known for his funny-bone, is actually one of the funniest guys I have ever worked with. Here we were on a movie set about P.O.W.’s and we laughed so hard during that shoot.
Jack Black is another funny guy from the outset, but is a really serious guy, highly intelligent and not a laugh riot all the time. I think funny actors weren't necessarily the class clowns. We were the people who sat in the back of the class thinking, “What the F&*$ are you doing?”
O-C: At this point in your career what do you look for when you get a script?
ZAHN: The same thing I did on day one. If it's a compelling story or a character that I think I can really connect with, or a character that I go, “Oh my God, I need to play this!” It should be fun to play.
You can call bull while going through my resume and say well, that film was a dud or the character was a real goof-ball, but I’ll defend that. I’ve got two kids, I've got a mortgage to pay and sometimes you can do these independent movies. But you take some of those other roles because I got to make some money. Let’s face it, because of COVID I haven’t worked in a bit and I'm about to have a huge yard sale. I’m in the midst of going through my home to see what I can sell.
O-C: Steve, what was the movie that you were in that actually changed your life?
ZAHN: It has to have been That Thing You Do. It was such a fun movie to do and such a great script. It was so unique in that our leaders on that film were so nurturing to us and taught us so much. Specifically (director) Tom Hanks, who to this day was instrumental in how I go to work and how I behave on every job.
One day on the set of That Thing You Do, me and the guys all showed up late. Tom brought us into the trailer and very calmly said, “It's all good but that's the last day that you're going to be late.”
We were sorry, we were all late because we were getting coffee or whatever. And he said, ‘No. Not just on my movie, but for every movie you do going forward.” I swear to God from that day forward, I've never been late to a set ever. As a matter of fact, I'm embarrassingly early.
I'm good at what I do and I’m professional. But I get jobs also because I show up on time. I know my stuff, I have an opinion and I'm not a dick.
O-C: So, to tie it all up, Cowboys is a game-changer on many levels. But mainly it’s a film that makes us think about transgender youth and what they are going through. We certainly do not see a lot of movies dealing with this subject matter. What do you hope people will take from this film?
ZAHN: I think it's great that it is set in a very small rural town. These people are maybe the stereotypical people that you might think would be not very accepting of the situation.
For me, it’s just plain and simple. Just love your kid. I'd love my kid no matter what, and for some it’s just easy to take the high road, the easy way out. It’s all about love and love means to be accepting. Sure, you can complicate it and you can have an opinion you can try to make someone change, but that will complicate everything and make everybody miserable - and maybe for the rest of their lives.
Or you can just make a choice and say, what do you need from me? How can I help you? It’s just as easy as that.