Steven James Zahn ( ; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. In film, Zahn is best known for his lead roles in That Thing You Do! (1996), Safe Men (1998), Happy, Texas (1999), Joy Ride (2001), National Security (2003), A Perfect Getaway (2009), the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series (2010–2012), Cowboys (2020), and LaRoy, Texas (2023). His notable supporting roles in films include Reality Bites (1994), Out of Sight (1998), Forces of Nature (1999), Employee of the Month (2004), the Stuart Little film series (1999–2002), Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Daddy Day Care (2003), Chicken Little (2005), Sahara (2005), Sunshine Cleaning (2008), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), The Good Dinosaur (2015), Captain Fantastic (2016), War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) and Anaconda (2025).
In television, Zahn is best known for his main cast credits as Davis McAlary in the HBO series Treme (2010–2013), Cobi in the Amazon Prime Video series Mad Dogs (2015–2016), Jude Ellis in the ABC science fiction series The Crossing (2018), and Mark Mossbacher in season 1 of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus (2021).
Zahn received an Independent Spirit Award, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for The White Lotus, as well as two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Zahn also starred in the series Chad Powers.
Early life and education Steven James Zahn was born on November 13, 1967, in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Carleton Edward Zahn, a Lutheran minister, and Zelda Clair Zahn, a bookstore clerk and later a YMCA administrator.Braun, Liz (February 26, 2001). "Steve Zahn has a smart funny humour," Jam!. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School, and moved to the suburbs of Minneapolis 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 Retrieved April 9, 2022.Covert, Colin (August 18, 2009). "Local boy Steve Zahn grows up," Star Tribune (Minneapolis). Retrieved September 15, 2017. Zahn graduated from Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope in 1986, planning to eventually join the United States Marine Corps.
He attended Gustavus Adolphus College for one semester, but dropped out after seeing the original West End production of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.Riesman, Abraham (July 13, 2017). "Steve Zahn. Seriously." Vulture. Retrieved September 15, 2017. Zahn later enrolled in the Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University, earning a Master of Fine Arts.
Career 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. His fellow actors suggested that he study acting, inspiring him to enroll in American Repertory Theater's two-year training program.Copley, Rich (June 23, 2016). "Steve Zahn talks craft and Kentucky at UK's Singletary Center," Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved on September 15, 2017. At A.R.T., Zahn worked with the stage director Andrei Șerban.O'Sullivan, Michael (July 13, 2007). "Steve Zahn . . . in All Seriousness," The Washington Post. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
In 1991, Zahn formed the Malaparte theater company with a group of actor friends, including Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard.Sternbergh, Adam (January 31, 2010). "The Ethan Hawke Actors Studio," New York. Retrieved September 16, 2017. From 1991 to 1992, Zahn played Hugo Peabody in a national tour of Bye Bye Birdie starring Tommy Tune. He subsequently appeared in two Off-Broadway plays, Sophistry and Eric Bogosian's Suburbia.Klein, Alvin (March 15, 1992). "Tommy Tune and 'Bye Bye Birdie,'" The New York Times. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
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! (1996), You've Got Mail (1998), and Out of Sight (1998).Rabin, Nathan (July 3, 2007). "Interview: Steve Zahn," The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 9, 2022. In the 1990s, Zahn was often approached by fans who assumed he was an archetypal Generation X 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 Happy, Texas, for which he won a Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival.Ojumu, Akin (November 13, 1999). "Steve Zahn's habitual scene-stealing," The Guardian. (London) Retrieved September 15, 2017. After that, he began playing darker, more nuanced characters. He received Oscar buzz for his role as Drew Barrymore's deadbeat ex in Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), and played investigative journalist Adam Penenberg in Shattered Glass (2003), which starred Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, and Chloë Sevigny.Smith, Neil (December 4, 2001). "Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)," BBC News. Retrieved September 15, 2017. 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 by eating mostly raw food.
Zahn has also worked regularly in television, playing Davis McClary on 36 episodes of HBO's Treme.
From 2010 to 2012, Zahn portrayed Frank Heffley, the father of Greg Heffley, in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series.
In 2017, Zahn played Bad Ape in War for the Planet of the Apes. 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".Rottenberg, Josh (April 21, 2017). "Why Steve Zahn's 'Bad Ape' in 'War for the Planet of the Apes' made director Matt Reeves cry," Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 16, 2017.Lammers, Tim (July 13, 2017). "Interview: Steve Zahn Talks 'War of the Planet of the Apes,'" DirectConversations.com. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
In 2024 Zahn portrayed Jimmy Conroy / "Solo" as a main character in the second season of the Apple TV+ series Silo. He continued in that role through the fourth and final season of the award-winning science fiction dystopian drama.
Awards AwardYearCategoryWorkResultBlockbuster Entertainment Award2008Favorite Supporting Actor – Comedy/RomanceForces of NatureIndependent Spirit Awards1999Best Supporting MaleHappy, Texas2007Rescue DawnCinequest Film & Creativity Festival2026Maverick Spirit AwardsPrimetime Emmy Awards2022Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or MovieThe White LotusSatellite Award2000Best ActorHappy, TexasScreen Actors Guild Awards2013Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureDallas Buyers Club2016Captain FantasticSundance Film Festival1999Special Dramatic Jury Prize for Best Comedic PerformanceHappy, TexasWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association2017Best Motion Capture PerformanceWar for the Planet of the Apes
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. They married in 1994 and have two children. In the 1990s, they bought a cabin in Pennsylvania and then a farm in New Jersey, near the Delaware Water Gap. They next moved to a 36-acre horse farm outside Lexington, Kentucky, where Zahn gardens and raises horses, goats, and sheep.Belloni, Matthew (October 27, 2008). "Steve Zahn: What I've Learned," Esquire. Retrieved September 15, 2017. 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, where he enjoys tubing and fishing with his children. Zahn is a Lutheran.
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, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Northern Kentucky University. A University of Kentucky sports fan, Zahn is often seen at games and events.
Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 1992 Rain Without Thunder Jeremy Tanner 1994 Reality Bites Sammy Gray 1995 Crimson Tide William Barnes1996 Race the Sun Hans Kooiman SubUrbia Buff That Thing You Do! Lenny Haise1997Subway StoriesTuckerSegment: "The 5:24"1998The Object of My AffectionFrank HansonOut of SightGlenn MichaelsSafe MenEddieYou've Got MailGeorge Pappas1999Forces of NatureAlanFreak Talks About SexFreakHappy, TexasWayne Wayne Wayne Jr., aka DavidStuart LittleMontyVoice role A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.2000Chain of FoolsThomas KreskHamletRosencrantz2001Chelsea WallsRossDr. Dolittle 2ArchieVoice roleJoy RideFuller ThomasRiding in Cars with BoysRay HasekSaving SilvermanWayne2002Stuart Little 2MontyVoice role2003Daddy Day CareMarvinNational SecurityHank RaffertyShattered GlassAdam Penenberg2004Employee of the MonthJackSpeakMr. Freeman2005Chicken LittleRunt of the LitterVoice roleSaharaAl Giordino2006BandidasQuentin CookeRescue DawnDuane2008The Great Buck HowardKennyManagementMike FluxStrange WildernessPeter GaulkeSunshine CleaningMacUnstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a BabySandy PigVoice, direct-to-video2009Night TrainPete DobbsA Perfect GetawayCliff Anderson2010Calvin MarshallCoach LittleDiary of a Wimpy KidFrank HeffleySalesmenMarvin2011Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick RulesFrank Heffley2012Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Class Clown Voice, short film2013Escape from Planet EarthHawkVoice roleDallas Buyers ClubTuckerKnights of BadassdomEric2015The Good DinosaurThunderclapVoice roleThe Ridiculous 6Clem2016Captain FantasticDave2017War for the Planet of the Apes Bad Ape Voice and motion-captureLean on PeteSilver2018BlazeOilman #22019 Where'd You Go, Bernadette David Walker Tall Girl Richie Kreyman2020 Uncle Frank Mike Bledsoe Cowboys Troy 2021 8-Bit Christmas John Doyle 2022Tall Girl 2 Richie Kreyman Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again Jedediah Voice 2023 Your Place or Mine Zen LaRoy, Texas Skip Gringa Jackson Wildcat Tom T. Shiftlet 2025 She Dances Jason Also screenwriter and producer Eenie Meanie Dad Meaney Anaconda Kenny Trent TBA Time Out Filming Hello & Paris Filming
Television