BRUNCH: Interviewing Steve Zahn

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Welcome everybody to a very special edition of the Confused Breakfast, our guest.

We've talked about him many times on this show. You may remember him from movies of your childhood,

like suburbia, saving silverman, that thing you do. Maybe some recent things you're watching,

like righteous gemstone, silo, perhaps the new anaconda. We did the old one. Wish this man was

in the old one. Steve's on. So glad to have you. Welcome to the show, man. Thanks for having me,

guys. Wish I was on the couch. We wish you were too. We got we got our boy Nick Cage here

instead. Well, but we'll move him. That's your one to come over. I'm going to send you a pillow,

me. If you don't mind, send us a pillow, either a full cuddle one, that's fine for me,

or a candle. You could send us a prayer candle too. We have those. That's right. You can get those

maids, right? Yeah. Yeah. You make anything out of yourself. I'd pray to your candle, man.

You make a bobble head. Yeah. It would be fantastic. Well, well, Steve, we've

chatted a few times on Instagram and the other day, he slid into the DMs with basically a trailer,

a link to say, hey, got this new movie coming out. You should check it out. I'm like, all right.

Love Steve. Let's hit play on this. I was I was crying in my office watching this new trailer,

because it was so well done. It's for this new movie called She Dances, which I believe is out

today as of what you're hearing this. Tell us how in the world this movie came about, man. And then

we'll tell you our thoughts on it. Well, like like all independent films, it's just it's a marathon,

man. It's a long haul. And this started literally five years ago, almost like right now, five

years ago. When I took my daughter to her last dance competition, it was a national dance competition.

She represented Kentucky and it was really fun. And my wife couldn't go. And we had a blast. And

it was at the Gaylord Hotel in Nashville, which is like the nuttyest experience. It's the

craziest hotel ever. It's got like, it's insane. And if you've been there, you know what I'm talking

about, water parks and all kind of stuff. Anyway, so yeah, so it was just really great experience. And

it was really funny. There was like a cowboy convention. It was very strange. And I kept talking

to my buddies who are my producing partners. And they kept saying, Steve, we got to do something

about this world, man, this subculture. And that's how it started. And then we kicked it around

and just came up with the story. And it's really pretty simple, you know. But a friend of ours,

Jason Reed, who's great, great producer, who's produced tons of big stuff. He called us out of

the blue during COVID and was like, I really want to, I just want to produce something. I just

want to tell a human story. I just want it to be simple. I, you know, lacking all cynicism. And I

said, well, he came to the right people. And we, and we pitched him it. And he was like, yeah,

but there's got to be an obstacle. So we added this. We all talked about it. And we were like,

what's the obstacle? And we're like, Oh, it's grief. They're dealing with death. You know,

they're doing the best they can. And sometimes that's not enough. But, um, yeah, it's a,

it's an extremely touching story. We all had a chance to watch it. I'm currently in the

throes of being a dad of two daughters, four and two. So I am, I'm, I'm in the, you know,

the beginning stages. And they're showing signs of, of dance, right? They're showing signs of

artistic creativity. And I'm excited for it. But I also remember going, dance world's not for me,

like I hear it so expensive. And no, thank you. But I'll tell you what, man, watching this,

your interaction with, with your daughter in this world, all of a sudden kind of changed my

thoughts about having daughters growing up in that world. And it was probably amazing for you

to be able to like tell that story because this was essentially your world that you've lived in

with your daughter, Audrey, who this is her first movie she's ever been. She plays your daughter

in the movie and she's incredible. Oh, thanks. And she is, I think, no, I can't say it because

I'm her dad, but even though I'm her co-star, um, but I, I gosh, but hey, first off, it's cheaper

than hockey. Well, unfortunately, it's either hockey or dance in my, in my family right now.

I'm just saying, uh, a lot of gear. My son played lacrosse. So I spent a lot of days on the road

staying at, you know, Mary out of sweets and yeah, it's a world that has been a part of our lives.

And my son danced too. And they were very young. And we never, we never suggested anything.

We just kind of like opened the, you know, the, the, the, the, the curtain to all subcultures. And

this was one that they latched on to, which is interesting because

uh, mom was a Broadway dancer. We met doing a national tour by by birdie. She was a hoover.

She's extremely talented dancer, singer actor. And so it was just kind of fascinating when the kids

at three and six or three and five are like, we want to do that. We were at a recital. But it's

crazy. He's a dad. You get you, you just, they pick the sub, they pick the thing and then you're

just along for the ride. And then all of a sudden, you become an expert. You're all in Holland,

you know, a four-slant trailer with horses. You know, there could be that too. Yeah. It's kind of

easier to grab a purple bag and run around with it and go sneak, you know, buy Chick-fil-A and

smuggling into it. But yeah, it's a world that I know really well. And the competitive dance world.

And even if you're like a dancer that didn't compete, we're at those, those studios.

And you, you just took dance. This is a movie that pays homage to you. And when we talked about

it, it was like Audrey, my daughter's name in his Audrey, I was like, there's not a movie that

represents this, right? She's like, no, there's like dance moms, which is a show in McKenzie-Zegler,

yeah, yeah. It's in the show, it was on dance moms. But it didn't show, I don't know,

the truthful version of it or like the more heartfelt version of it, I guess, maybe?

I guess so. Yeah, a fictional representative of that. And we knew this world so well that we knew

that with the small amount of money that we'd have to shoot, we could make it look a lot bigger

because we knew the dance studios, we knew the theaters, we were connected here in Lexington with

all these people. But if you drove past our shoot, honestly, it would look like we were delivering

kegs to like a restaurant. We were that small. Well, I mean, so I will tell you this, my three-year-old

son is, you said hockey's, you know, not cheap. He's into golf. And so now I'm dealing with that.

And I, a golf is a wonderful hobby for me. And then he saw it, he saw me swing a club,

and then he saw the pro swing clubs. And then now he can swing a club better than I can at three

years old. And now I'm going down that rabbit hole with this. So I kind of feel ya. And I really do

kind of wish that I could, you know, rather just maybe bring a change of clothes and the chick

filet that you're talking about rather than having to like go, I thought it was fun buying a golf

club for him. And now I'm realizing that this is not going to be the way it's the way it is.

So the dance, like getting to watch this just kind of really reminded me though that number one,

those are the moments that are, those are the fleeting moments of, of fatherhood,

parenthood, you know, of really getting to like spend the time and watch them learn and grow.

And then especially in, in the movie, watching them become, watching them become

somebody that those other younger, the next generation is even looking at. And how important

that was. And I think that's another big thing speaking to like the representation you're talking

about, you know, of, of this world, dance moms is not what I want to watch and want to understand

about this man personally. But in a sense, this, this really gave some really wonderful insight.

And it was just a, those, those human moments are what really shined through for me, I guess.

Yeah, I mean, it is, it is interesting how, I mean, and that's, yeah, it's the perfect,

I, we thought it was the perfect vehicle for that simple human story, right? And it really is,

it's really simple. And your families can watch it. It's like a, we're going to be like, hey,

let's, let's, let's write an independent, a cinematic independent American film for families

that doesn't pander, right? I mean, most of these movies, this would, the, the subject matter,

the hidden subject matter would, they'd hit you over the head with it. And we just, we just whisper

it a few times. And then it sneaks up in it, karate chops you in the throat. And you know,

and it really, it really sneaks up and it's kind of a trick we do. But there's, we're not

breaking ground, we're not reinventing stuff. We were just kind of like talking about like, hey,

what, you know, do they make movies like, I don't know, when I was young, like mask, yeah,

you know, or like breaking away, you know, you know, these kind of human stories that weren't

really bad, anything. What a kid with a wild face that has a cool family, right? You know, oh, yeah,

it's about it. Well, and I could even take it back even to a, it seems like it's been a

comment topic lately. But you know, we've talked about like, you know, Rocky isn't a boxing movie.

It's, it's a, it's a human picture. You know what I mean? It's, it's about him, not boxing.

No, and he loses. He loses. Right. You know, and you don't forget that. Yeah. I mean, we watched

that movie. There's hardly any boxing. Yeah, very little. It's crazy. I'm these long scenes that

are just like, it's just the well-crafted kind of, I mean, most people, I think if you,

if you put that, that, that movie out there now, oh my God, producers, you just start freaking out.

Right. Like, we need to streamline this. Do you know how many times I heard that? We need

to streamline this, guys. We need to streamline. What does that mean? Yeah. What do you mean?

Just be specific. Cut stuff. Yeah. Okay, great. What do you want to cut? What scene do you want to

cut specifically? Are you asking? Five minutes of the movie. Really? Yeah. Oh, well, no. We're not

going to do that. Oh, it's like, and then you get to a point where you just go, you know, what I don't

care. You know, it works for me. And, and if, and if, if you get rattled and you want to switch off

and just go swipe, great, go. Yeah. Yeah. But we're just going to, we're just going to try to be

truthful and do the best we can. That, that human element to me was, was really special because

you guys, you guys are all dads. I'm working on it. By the way, it's going all right. But, um,

good luck, kid. Yeah. Appreciate you. Uh, the, the aspect of, of, of being a son, too, or like

being a daughter in, in Audrey's case, you know, watching you be a dad on screen here. Really,

it really worked for me because my dad came and supported the plan of band came and supported my,

my shows when I was really young. And that meant the world to me and to see you. And he's, you know,

it's, it's pretty hard, hardcore music, not his kind of thing whatsoever. It's like your character

in this dancing is not really your thing whatsoever. But you, you learn to enjoy, you learn to,

like you said, you learn to like know everything about it. I felt that, that was a really,

really special thing to watch you go through your character go through it in this. Yeah. He,

he has an epiphany because he's, he's estranged because there's a death in the family. Correct.

And so, um, that's not a spoiler alert. Okay. But they, they, they, and so he's been separated,

right? And he's been, he, he even says, I haven't been on one of these. And I can't even remember.

So he has to, he, I remember the first, one of the first times I would go watch Audrey dance

when she was starting to morph into this real dancer coming kid to real. And I would sit in an

audience and I would see her do with a group of people, you know, do a big group tap number

or whatever. And I was just, I couldn't believe what I was watching. Like that's my daughter.

They, those performers are amazing. And you go, oh, right. They spend four hours a day,

you know, five days a week dancing, sometimes six days. And you just get this,

it's like your dad coming to see you play. Yeah, maybe it's not his cup of tea. But man,

when, when you, when you watch your kids, like, just kind of like take on something that you are,

that is, it wasn't something I handed you was something they found out. You know,

it's just, it's insane. And then in my case, now I'm making a movie about it. And all along,

Rick and I were like, what, Audrey's got to be the person, right? And we all knew that she'd be

good. We just didn't know she'd be great. She's fantastic. I think there's, there's a moment in

this speaking of, it's kind of more focused on your character throughout most of it. But there's

a moment in this where she takes this movie over. And I think it becomes her movie. And that,

that moment, I wanted to ask you, was that a kind of conscious decision when you're writing this

to have her kind of take this movie over? Yeah, it was. And it was in the cut as well. That we,

we found the original script. There was, there was another scene where, where her dance teacher

talks to her. And she wants to leave. And this is interesting because her performance was so good.

And she had so much power and maturity that wasn't necessarily on the page, page, but she brought

forth in her performance that it changed the cut. We were like, you know what? She doesn't need to

be told anything. It's, she already knows, have heard aside and invite me to talk, right? And it

was kind of like that to begin with, but it's just kind of interesting when you, when you're going

through a cut and how drastically things can change. Not that that was that drastic, but it was,

it was, it was important. And it's what I love about the movie. She's the one that helps her dad.

You know, she, he's the one that's covering up everything, you know, and dealing with a lot of

stuff. And again, doing, doing the best he can and being kind of a goofball. And she's the one that,

that, that makes them talk about something that they haven't talked about.

Yeah. And that, that thing also to me too, was really well done. And the fact that I like

haunt is maybe not the right word, but that's the only one I have right now. Like Jack does sort of

haunt this movie at haunt to your guys' relationship for sure. Yeah. I was really well done. And,

especially the culminating scene as we talk about it. It coming to ahead and making the audience

realize what's actually going on underneath the surface was, was really special.

I, thanks. And I, you know, that's Rick Gomez. Okay. My partner and he, he directed it. And

here's a, here's a great example. Like, my son was the PA on this. And son's a great writer,

but he's, he was just, I'm in a PA. He's paying his dues. Yeah. Right. I love it. And,

um, he and a bunch of guys were shooting a short in this office yesterday. Nice. Yeah. Anyway,

Rick just said, Hey, can I go grab, is it okay? Henry, if I grab you and just shoot you down in

the park down here, we're shooting in my town. It's like 1600 people railroad track down the

metal. We got two lights, one blanking, one works. And, um, he said, yeah, sure. What do I do? He

goes, just stand there and our DP went around him with like VHS. He went around him with all

these different. And Rick said, he was like, I just want to, I don't know, I think I might need this.

I was like, need what? Like, I'm just going to shoot Henry. And sure enough, in one of the cuts

that he showed me, he was like, I added Henry as a representation. Yeah. He's like mind blowing.

He's like another character. Yeah. That's really prominent. And it's that a really cool moment

and Kobe toll in our editor. Like that first image of him just turning without any sound or

it's so powerful. And, um, that was Rick. That was just kind of thinking on the fly, you know.

And on the fly on a small movie like this, you got five minutes. Yeah. Super important.

Well, I do want to point out to our, to our audience, you know, like our audience is mainly,

you know, 30 to 55 year old males who are like, yeah, saving Silverman, you know what I mean? But,

but here's the thing, of course, but here's the thing of why it's so important to our audience is

like, you know, we came out, hot out of the gates being like, it's about dancing. It's like,

hold on a second. This is, this is an important movie because it's, it's a human experience.

Like you just said, I mean, you have this dancing element, you have this father,

child aspect, you've got an incredible representation of like adult friendship with Ethan Hawke

here. And he's like your old friend, right? So like, this was probably pretty natural for you.

Oh, Ethan and I go back to like 92. I think, can you hear that train? Heck yeah, man, I love trains.

Trains. Like, Mike, what is that train? Oh, that's a DC 922. Yeah, I told you. Yeah.

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Yeah, no, no, no. I'm not going to, you know, this is a human story.

We're not trying to dig out a group of people. You know what I mean?

I can't tell you how fun it is to watch this with an audience. That's the other thing that's

really important. We're trying to get people to go to a theater and watch this.

If they go to a theater and watch this, then we have a shot because then it expands

and more people know about it. And then we have a wife, right?

And so we've been showing it at Film Festival. I've seen it, I've seen it 50 times.

And I love it because people go in with an idea of what they're going to watch because of the

title and the poster. We all do that. And they walk out going, holy shit.

That's not what I expected. And it's so great to have that reaction.

And again, it's because there's no gimmicks, man. It just slows down and tells an honest story.

And in a day where, you know, you're told, well, in the trailer, they're going to swipe

within eight seconds unless you have something really exciting you show them. And, you know,

in that world, I think it really, it really fits. And it's an angry world right now, man.

Movie like this is important. We got really off the rails recently. I don't know if you

have heard about a movie called Snack Shack came out in 2024. It was like our favorite film of

the year. And this reminds me of it because it's just an independently done movie that is just

so good and so heartfelt and funny. And like Ron Livingston's hilarious. And just it's so funny,

but it makes you feel the feelings. And we need movies like this more than ever. And I really hope

people will go see this because it runs in our movie. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. No, I said

runs. Sorry, I speak to you. Ron was with row his wife. And they were in town. He was like,

because she played, you know, my, my wife. Oh, okay. Rosemary DeWitt. Yeah. So he came in and then

Ron was like, can I be in the movie? That's a really good Ron Livingston. Yeah, he's like,

oh, is it just the scene with Steve? Oh, my, yeah. I laughed so hard when it's such a great scene,

but yeah, it's really funny movie. It's not, you know, correct. It's really, it's really a comedy,

but you know, it just kind of hits home, that's all. The thing I'll say about that is we've,

I've said about like some, some of my favorite songs, some of my favorite music, like they take

their time and they're not afraid to just use time and and take their time. And, and take,

because otherwise it's a song made for the radio. And if you don't have your course and your hook

in 30 seconds, then it's just not going to be playable. It's just not palatable for, you know,

the mass audiences. And, but it's really fun and it's really exciting to see movies start to do

that, you know, we saw it with like Snack Shack and now we get to see it with She Dance's. And they

get to take their time telling you the story rather than saying, here's the hook. And I hope you're

hooked in and I hope you don't swipe away from it. And so it's really refreshing to get that

start getting that back. It feels like. Yeah, I mean, getting it back is really is the operative word.

It's, you know, everything is cyclical, right? Yeah. So we go through these like, these like

artistic, like, you know, music, right? It goes, you know, it goes through the same kind of cycles

and then it gets, it gets really cheesy and then the, you know, the dancing and this and that.

And then all of a sudden, wait, who's this band? That's Nirvana. What the? You know what I mean?

And things change and then all of a sudden everybody tries to morph towards that. And then the

real artist come in and go like, nah, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to do this.

And so it's just the cycle, right? And so movies is the same thing. I grew up, my favorite movies

are, you know, are considered boring is all get out, right? So, you know, watch the deer hunter.

Yeah. I mean, you know, there's a there's a wedding scene in there that's like 25 minutes.

And same. I mean, you watch people get drunk in real time. It's crazy. But there was

something really cool about that because I love movies like that because you you feel like

you're a voyeur. You feel like you're really watching something that you're not supposed to watch.

And you're not in real tight. Watch these old directors, man. They choose when they move in.

Spielberg's old movies, whatever. It's like, you know, there's

everything that I think together in the same same, you know, in the same shot. It's really cool.

Well, I like to like to like especially speaking of the director's choices. I really liked a lot of

the screen split screen stuff in here. I really think I like added a lot to especially your guys

kind of dynamic going on in the film. Yeah, we wrote that in. Oh, really? Okay.

Yeah, we wrote it into the script because we thought

you know, and at the beginning of the film is that's that split. Yeah.

Split screen that goes on for quite a while. But what you see is these two people, this

dad and this daughter parallel. Yeah. And you're like, wait a second. They're in a car together

and then the car stops and then they go into there. Oh, they're related. And they don't live

together. Oh, then they call each other, right? And so we had to choreograph this thing. It was

really hard to shoot this. I bet. They shot first and then the second day after I shot my side

and I wore a hearing aid. Right. And I listened to the scene so that I could time things with the

garbage disposal or we, you know, us doing the microwave at the same time. There are cuts in

there, but we intended on it being two winners. And I get a little nervous when I watch it with

an audience in the room because I'm like, oh, just hanging there. But it's so important

because it lays all that track. And when you do that and you say no to the people are like,

come on, let's go. Let's go. You go, it's going to save us time in the end. Yes.

And I don't have to write scenes that make you look stupid. You know, where I'm like, well,

you know, why is dad over there? Well, dad, you know, my apartment sucks. And I wish I could be,

you know, it's like the whole thing with alcohol. Yes. You don't really touch on it, but it's

that we can figure it out. It comes apparent. We can figure it out. You don't have to spoon it to us.

And the thing is like the moment in our movie, where it was going, where it should have,

you know, when he finds the vodka. Oh, my God. He's amazing. Really funny. So, but

nine out of 10 movies, I get drunk. Yes. And you, and you mess it up and the daughter hates you.

Seen off. Fucked up. And then she's pissed. And then we go in the parking lot and we yell at each

other. And then we then we make up later and everything's cool. And then we win. Yeah.

It was really, it was really refreshing to see, I mean, it's a funny bit. But you're like, oh,

no. As an audience member, I'm just, oh, man, it's going to do this. And then you pour, you

pour it out. I'm just like, that's the kind of, you know, vendor and breakfast club moment.

And then it's just like, you know, it's for toothbrush. It's it, you know, yeah. Yeah.

You go like, no, we're not going there. We're going to do something different now. And that's,

that's again, that's the refreshing part. And again, it would, would have been easy to just kind of

like, kind of hack some of that up to, especially the, just you getting, you getting that liquid.

But it's just like watching you do that. And then after that, it could have been very quick

cuts of you like having a borderline having an internal conversation with the glass or something.

Well, it sits on the counter like, uh, uh, uh, and cutting back and forth. And it's just like,

but you didn't. And it's just like, nah, yeah, I'm just going to, well, that's got to go away. So

I can get my toothbrush, brush, put it like that. There's, there's comedy inside of that.

That is, it's just really, it's just, again, it's just refreshing, man. It's just refreshing.

Cool. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm really proud of it. I really am. I mean, it's that, I mean,

you know what, you know what, it's crazy. I got my home movies in this.

My home movies are in the movie. It starts with my stuff. You know, I'm a young dad. My kids are like,

I don't know. Four and six or three and five and that, you know, it's so cool. I saw that

with you. And it's like, it's, I don't, it's got to be the first movie ever where the two leads,

you see their home movies probably, right? Has to be. And it's, and it was such a great thing to

use. So I'm just saying like, it's, it's a snapshot of my life, like my wife's in it, my son's in it,

my, you know, Rick's wife is in it. Rick's wife is our producer, our editor, Kobe, or the two,

the couple, the brother and sister that are buying me Ethan's company. It's like, it was all hands

on deck. Everybody was just kind of like in it. But then I think about that, I told my daughter at,

you know, some screening. And I was like, Hey, this is, this is forever. I said, you're going to be,

you're going to be a grandma. I'm going to be gone, man. You're going to be able to show this.

Not cool. That's so cool. It would be cool. Just, yeah, that's just, you know, more legacy.

I'm a grandpa in the background. You know, it's really cool. And then for that, for that, for that,

to become like something that is watchable and affects people and is actually, I think a really

good film, a great film, maybe. Wow, that's pretty cool, man. It's, it's better than like, I mean,

not to knock on any Marvel movie. Again, I do it on a show a lot, but like it's, it's very,

very personal. I even watching the trailer before the movie, obviously, I was just, this is

very personal movie, but then those scenes or those home movies are added and like, no, this is

extremely personal. And those stories are the ones that I really want to hear. Yes. Yeah. Yeah,

it's real deal. Steve, let me ask, let me ask you a question, man. So you, I think you really came

into your own. I mean, you've had a long, amazing career. But when you started really taking on the

form of, of the dad in movies, dude, dude, I'll tell you what, man, I knew that I saw 8-bit Christmas

before I had my first daughter. And you sort of like, spoke to me in that movie of like, hey, man,

this is going to be your thing. And you really, I got so emotional at the end of that movie,

hadn't even had my daughter yet. What is it? What is it about your life and like your career that

really led you to just being such a, such a good dad on screen? I don't know. I think, I think

that's just like, by chance, I mean, it's a lot of, it's just weird to have a career for a long time

where you go from like the pot head. And then you, you're like the janitor and then, and then all

and then you're like, what am I now? I'm kind of in between stuff. And then your first time,

you're like, oh my dad now. That's awesome. And so then people start recognizing you as this

dad, but the dad parts with it. So that's not just like the drug dealer, which is just kind of

the same part. Dads are all over the place, man. Like you can play all kinds of different dads.

And so yeah, I don't know what it is, but, um, and now I'm starting to morph it, you know,

all of a sudden I'm the older dad. I'm like, it's there in college now. I go, okay.

Yeah. I'm really with thumbs up. Did that, is that me?

Try it again. Do it. Do a thumbs up on screen. See what happens. Yeah, but I did like,

oh, no, you can't do it. No, you can't do it. I don't know. We'll never have that on the back.

We'll never have it. Yeah, but we got it on record. So yeah. But then, you know, and eventually,

I'll be like, you know, the old guy going like, it looks like, you know, whatever.

What? I don't know. That's like, now I want that character.

So what are you working on? Yeah, absolutely.

I think you'll be really great in that too, Steve. I think that the old guy, just the old guy.

Well, but okay, if we're, look, if we are going to get on to some of this, I'm just going to say

the most outlandish thing that you, look, I thought vacations were going to be a much bigger problem

in my life because I was going to run into some guy who was actually a murderer and perfect,

and perfect, get away. Like dude, terrifying shit. Okay. Yeah, that was a really, really terrifying

movie to me. I love that movie. That was, yeah, that was David two eight. That was a great script.

And that was a tough one because when, when I talked to him about it, I was like,

man, you got to get this absolutely right. You can't screw this up. Like you, the minute you,

the minute you wink or tip your hat or do the wrong thing, the movie's over. Yep.

You have to really commit because one of these people is the bad guy or whatever, two people.

Yeah. And there's only, there's only six to pick from really. And so you have to sustain

that for the long time. So that's why I thought it was like a, it was a real challenge.

And I remember just playing that part. I thought I never went to work thinking I was that guy

that you're talking about. I played him like I was just, I was the nerdiest, you know, fish out of

water. That's who I was playing. Never, never did I turn my, you know, one time the director was

like, hey, maybe you turn back. Look at them. I was like, why? Because, you know,

I was like, oh, no, don't go there, man. That's what I mean. We talked about, we've talked about

that so many times of, like you said, one wink or you leave the camera lingering on his, on an

expression for too long, just one, two seconds, maybe too long. You gave it away. And like we don't,

you don't want that story like the music, like the people your audiences are really savvy. They are,

audiences are smart, man. And, and you, you don't, if you, if you mess with them at all,

that's our movie. If you, you know, if you laid too much out there, it doesn't pay off later.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, yeah. I thought you were talking about you were going to be scared of

truckers. That's where I thought you're going. Well, well, yeah. Hey, Joyride holds up. That's a good

move. That's great. It does hold up. I mean, even without, yeah, technology and all that, you

know, CB's, they still use, of course, they still do. Well, I mean, there's, with such a, look,

it's, it's not like we didn't bring you here. So I can, so we can, can totally gloss and glaze

on you and everything. But in the same van, it's like, you know, we were talking about it. It's like

Steve, you just, like, man, you just, you don't miss really much. And you have such a, we've seen

such a range out of you from movies like we're talking about, like on right now, to the dad movies,

to the comedy. And so it kind of makes my biggest question is, is probably like what's your favorite,

where's your, where's your favorite place to kind of sit and, and live in on, on your movies?

Oh, man, I really don't. I try not to, this is as honest as I can be. I try to stay as naive as

possible. I, you know, I consider myself a storyteller. And, and now I've produced and, and,

worked the whole thing. But I really try to stay as naive as possible. I, I still get excited

when I read a script. And there's a character that just pops out. And it's not prefaced too much.

And I go, oh, I want to play that guy. Yeah. You know, and I get excited. Then I know that I can be good.

Right. And, and then if, if there's other great people that are just excited and a great director,

that's really, you know, a great D. P. And all of a sudden, all these other aspects that

can contribute to, to a great film, then it may be a great film. But all I know is this part,

right here, I can access this and I can do. And so I don't have a plan. Okay. Okay. I, I don't

have a plan. Like, you know, it'd be really good if I did something really serious next. And then

just go crazy and do anaconda. It doesn't work like that. Number one, I, I don't have that power.

I don't have the control over what comes to the zeitgeist in my, you know, from my, you know,

my people. Like, here's the offer. You know, so, and then sometimes you got to work, man. Yeah,

sure. You know, we're not all, you know, making twenty million movies. Those actors are not. We

got to go work. You know, I'm imagining that Lenny was Lenny from that thing you do. Was that one

of those characters you saw? And you went, Oh, man, that's me. You know what? That, that when I got

called, I was living in Jersey, I was living in Pennsylvania in a cabin, long story, but my wife

and I lived, lived out there. I think we were going to need to marry down, but I got to call

like, hey, they're going to do a staged reading or just a read through of a film in New York.

We go do it. I'm like, yeah. You know, they didn't pay. It was just kind of a favor. Like, go in and

they wanted actors to come in and I said, yeah, I'll do it. And I go in and I go to the read through

and Tom Hanks is there. Okay. Oh, what's happening? Like, what movie is this? That's, you know,

that's what I meant. You're like, wait, what, what am I going to do? Wait, this is written by,

okay, that's your fake name. I got it. I see. And so I read, I did the read through and they laugh

really hard at my read through when I read the start. And then after he came chase me down, he's like,

hey, that was great. Wow. Wow. We want to make this movie. I was like, yeah, great. Good luck with it.

And then he called me like a couple of days later. And that was it. Did you say, did you say,

did you say, when he said, oh, it was really great. Did you say, thanks, Tom or thanks, Mr. Hanks?

I said, thank you, Mr. Sir, sir. Okay. That's good. Yeah.

Thank Admiral. Yes. Yes. Captain Forrest. Awesome. We hark on all the time when we cover

movies like that. And we covered that thing you do. And we're all musicians, but like it's

important to us to see like on screen musicians, musicians do actually kind of play their

instruments and fret their instruments in the right way. And then the drummer be on beat.

Are you your musician? Correct. Was that was that form to you? I have a lot of friends who are

musicians. Okay. I hate that. You know, it's like, you know, I have a knife, but I'm not a navy seal.

It's kind of like, yeah, I've been I've been in a YouTube video before, but I'm not an actor.

I'm not an actor. Exactly. So yes, I play guitar. And and all of us, I think other John

Shack was pretty had Tom Everett Scott and never played drums. That's wild. That's insane.

Like that's you just magically found a guy that looks like who you want and is like can like do it.

We rehearsed with our instruments for the longest time. I'm going to say it was like total maybe

six weeks without any script work. Wow. Tom and Gary Guetzman, their whole thing was they just

they didn't want to worry about. Remember, this is film. This isn't digital. Sure. The film's

valuable, right? You got to load it and whole thing. It just changes everything. So when we were

doing those big performance pieces, those scenes, they didn't want to have to worry about

who's on the solo and who they just wanted to be free. So they said, you guys need to be on it.

And we got to you were we were we got to a point where we were playing playback,

but we did the read through the initial read through at Culver Studios in L.A.

And we all dressed up. We had skinny ties on everything and that people come to a read through

it. Just like whatever. And the band that the stage was set up. And when we got to the music,

we went up on stage and played. Wow. It was the coolest read through people. It's just like,

oh my god. That was fun. When you're out in public, what is your number one most recognized

like role that most people call you out on? Your little one grew three inches overnight.

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Soil offering scoots of Laskin Hawaii. It kind of changes. It's like that thing you do is a big one.

Saving silverman. Dyer even went be kid because there's a bunch of like anyone from like 23 to

it's like grew up with it. Yeah, it varies. It's kind of strange and then sometimes like national

security, it'll be a big. The comedies are big. Joy right? Yeah.

That's a testimony to your range though of like it probably just depends. You can see them coming

down the street and you're like, okay, that is a 35-year-old male. He's gonna say he's gonna do

saving silverman. Totally. And then if anybody comes up and says like, hey man, I love strange

wilderness. I go like, yeah, that's cool. You love smoking pot. Speaking of those people,

I'm gonna come out and say like, same sum is like one of my favorite movies. I do. We did a top

50 rewatchable movies of the 21st century and that was one of my picks. It's it's

holy rewatchable. One of my favorite comedies of all time. It's so and remember that movie

was panned. It wasn't really. I actually did not know that. It really didn't do much.

Studio didn't, you know, I never, it wasn't like number one. And that's the thing that always blows

me away. You know, you go do these like retrospectives of your life or whatever and go to

you know, film festival and they're like honoring you with the golden popcorn thing, whatever.

And they always bring out these movies like Happy Texas, you know, they'll go through the list,

you know, even that thing you do, like Sahara's flop. That thing you do, second place. They're

really disappointed. Happy Texas. I played in one theater. You know, they all, none of them were

these big monsters hits. I think the only the only water cooler show I've ever been in that was

like where everybody saw what and I in it and it and I knew it in the moment was white lotus.

And that was late. That was late in my career. You know, I'm in my fifties.

So what would you be interested in it? But would you rather have I mean, this is an interesting

thought. Would you rather have the one gigantic movie that goes away or would you rather have

that one that flops and builds all that yeah. No, I want all the things that sit in people's brains

and people love to watch the stories that are part of their subconscious. I don't have a problem

with someone who's trying to figure me out. You know, I just I'm just like a picture in their brain.

They're just like as I get older now people are more specific, but I went through a long period

where people just thought they knew me, you know, and I thought that was a compliment. I was like,

this is good because I'm an actor, right? So I I want to be behind a mask, right?

That's the whole point. I want to be able to shape shift in front of you. And if you know

everything about my business, then guess what? I can't shape shift in front of you anymore.

That's very true. Thinking about my life. And that's part of the reason why I've always lived on a farm.

Number one, I like a dark at night. I like the fish. Number two, you know, but it's not because

I hate somewhere else, but it also keeps me just kind of like I like just the use in the other

side of my brain, you know, and not thinking too much about it because it'll drive you nuts.

It would be honest with you, man, like you you reaching out to us and coming on the show, I was

Oklahoma nervous to be honest with you. Like you are that kind of guy to a lot of people,

especially us in this room, like when we covered that thing you do, it's like, why is he the best

part of this movie? And then you think of the range like rescue dawn is a movie that actually

really disturbed me. That's actually I mean, but that sort of range is just like, well, he's in

that. The guy from saving sov and the crater catcher. Yeah, no, that's it's I'm so lucky, man.

I mean, you know, I don't know how that all happened. I don't know, you know, I mean, I can tell you

why that happened. I think it's because I made a call, you know, it's like I called you guys,

like I'm trying to promote my movie, man. You know, it's like Werner Herzog is going to make a

movie out of my favorite documentary. Can I please talk to him? That's crazy. Yeah,

and I was like, yeah, you want to talk to me and why don't you come to my house and I'll cook

you a steak. And that was it. Wow. And and and then I'm doing that movie a year and a half later,

you know, 40 pounds less. That can happen without Vansampic or whatever.

I'm like, you say fun, Zimfe. He's called eating salmon and vegetables. Oh, weird. And maybe

like working on your farm and like being outside. And then I ran a lot. I don't like that part

as much. I mean, I said, yeah, I got bad knees, Steve. I got a bone spur. Oh, dude, hey,

that was so funny. I saw you on that was that like the today show? I don't know if you guys

saw this interview. They go, how do you how did this happen to you, Steve? And he's like,

he brings this huge story of like, well, I was chasing a horse and and just so happened that I

also had bones per surgery the next day. Unrelated unrelated to that horse. Yeah, but you're on a

morning show and it just doesn't work ever. Like, you know, you do the you do Seth Meyers and

jokes and everything land. Morning shows are just like really hard to do.

They're already thinking of the next thing they're going to ask everyone. That's a whole

dreamy shower show that's just really kind of like, boom, and then cut to here and cut to,

you know, it's like, and they have you on for a 30-second segment. Right.

If you tell one joke that goes a little too long and it's like, panic.

We can't get to the weather on the eight. Oh,

yeah, it's 801. We have to skip it. Well, the man, the fact that you did take some time to talk

to us is amazing. We are huge fans. Our audience loves you. And I think one last final pitch to

everybody out there. I mean, really, we haven't steered you wrong. I mean, we do deal in nostalgia.

We talk 80s, 90s, 2000s. But when there's something new out there that is worth it that hits that

vein, we always talk about it. And I really, I really hope people will go see she dances because

we were lucky enough to see the screener. I'm going to take my wife actually over the weekend.

I'm so excited for people to see this movie. I can't thank you enough for helping me pitch this

thing. And it's like, again, it's like a little movie. And all these big movies, man, you're going

to see Mario Brothers is 3500 out screens. Sure. You know, ours is in 50. So it's like it's a long

it's a long life. Hopefully it just lays out there and people start discovering it and they go,

whoa, whoa, this is really good. You need to go see this. So we'll see.

Best of luck, man, dude. Well, yeah, we'll we keep talking about it. And we absolutely. And it is

if speaking on that that point, too, I mean, the movie is very much speaking to the nostalgia.

If it starts with your own home. Yes, man. I mean, me come on. What's more nostalgic than that?

You could be like, is that AI? Go know that backyard, dude. Yeah, exactly. And that's when

when you see you as that young man, you know, that younger version of yourself with your kids,

I thought I'm like, how the heck to wait? How'd they do that? Wait, it bus me up every time I swear,

I swear. Oh, I can't imagine. And it's can't get through this thing.

Carefully talk about it with that. Yeah. And the cat, the cast is incredible. Your daughter's amazing.

You, I wrote down a few quick names. So Niko Martin greens out of this world. She's incredible in

this Star Trek. Even Cudlitz too. Cudlitz. Yeah, that's right. He came in John's one day. He's a one

day. Baby. Yeah, he came in for one day. He was in Vancouver, flew to Kentucky to do one scene

for us. Wow. And he said, you know, it's because Rick and he and Ron were all in a band of brothers

and band of brothers. And they are truly a band of brothers. And it's like, hey, we do this for me.

He almost parachute it in. I swear to God. I can't tell you it. Like, I've watched

band of brothers a few times through and millions of people have. Obviously, it's just like, but man,

when I when I read made the connection of Rick and him in that. And then it started to spiral

with Michael Cudlitz and like, just right. I was just like, I started making all these little

connections. And it's just such a weird small world thing for friends. Whenever the main dance mom,

she's my pal. She was so good. She's amazing. Well, Mackenzie Ziegler. I'm amazing. Yeah.

That was her first. Was this Mackenzie's first role? She nailed it, man.

Mackenzie's first role in her and Audrey. And we to get them to be like sisters, it was,

we did this old-fashioned thing. It's called rehearsal. Oh, weird. Oh, yeah. Remember that.

It's like, yeah, you're you guys play music. Can you imagine just going and just going like what

would be flat? Cool. Go. Yeah. We rehearsed all of our questions before he came on the same

Johnny be good. Now, and if you have the plush pillow, you could have propped it up in front.

They'll wait. We will replace Nick Cage with you if we can get one of these. I'm telling you just

saying. Okay. Wait, hold on. Last last question. What is on your hat? What is the picture on your hat?

Oh, that's that's Billy Jack. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. You know that, you know, that that old

independent film, Billy Jack. Absolutely. And he was like, it was just the tiniest movie in that

like 1973. And he's like this like native guy in this small town in like New Mexico. And he's

like protects the kids at the crazy at the kind of the hippie school outside town. And it'll go

in town. They would be surrounded by all these red necks. And then he like, craddy chops all of them.

He's like with one. And so my friend was like, hey, you live in Midway, Kentucky. It's like

1600 people. And he was joking. He was like, hey, man, you should get a Billy Jack hat. That,

right? You should get a Billy Jack hat and get some jeans on with no shoes barefoot. Just walk

around just looking for fights. And I was like, that's a stair go. I'm going to get one. So then I

went online and the only Billy Jack hat was this baseball cap with Billy Jack's hat on it.

So have you walked through town with no shoes on in Genja? No, I gotta say this hat though. Yeah,

I do that all the time. It's first point and laugh. They don't want to fight.

No, nobody wants to fight anymore. Yes, only online. I'll fight you online, but not to your face. Okay.

You're adorable. It's the Lexington lurker. We've read about it. All over the place. Yeah.

Well, Steve, thank you again so much. It was a pleasure talking to you. Hope the movie kills

and can't wait to speak to you again on something else. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You've got my,

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