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Steve Zahn was a few minutes late because he was caring for a horse that had undergone surgery and needed bandages repaired. “Life on the farm is serene,” Zahn says, “until your horse limps and you have to turn into a vet.” The actor has spent the past two decades living in rural Kentucky – and 2020 marked the longest period of a project that hasn’t taken him away from the farm. So when he got a call to star with Connie Britton, Natasha Rothwell, and Murray Bartlett on HBO The white lotus, a dark and comedic miniseries (from Enlightened‘s Mike White) on the collision of haves and have-nots at a Hawaiian resort, he needed little convincing. Zahn, 53, spoke about the show, prosthetic penises and his traumatic story of filming underwater.
Were you excited to get back to work?
I sat on this farm for eight months, living in 1850 and worried that I would not work. I would have done anything, really. May this brilliant script fall in my lap and be in Hawaii? It was green lights all the way. We were at the Maui Four Seasons. It was closed so we were really in a bubble. It was like a movie camp.
How does this show compare to your own family’s vacation?
Totally opposed. Do not mistake yourself. I like to sit on the beach and have a beer, but [the hotel in the show] is not my speed. When my son finished high school, we went to France. We just took a tour of Normandy doing this WWII tour.
Zahn with her co-star Connie Britton in HBO’s The White Lotus, which premiered on July 11.
Courtesy of HBO
Are you a history buff? I remember you campaigned for Kentucky Senate Hope Amy McGrath in Revolutionary War gear.
Oh yes. I have so many costumes that I look for opportunities to wear them. I had it done in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I wear it every July 4th when I light fireworks. I get in the back of the Kawasaki Mule and ask my son to lead me with an American flag down my neighbor’s driveway shouting, “The fireworks are coming!” “
Excuse me if it’s rude, but your character has a revealing moment in the first episode. Was it a prosthetic penis that you were wearing?
I didn’t even have to do this part. It’s somebody else wearing a prosthesis. That’s about as absurd as it gets, right?
Have you been able to enjoy Hawaii?
It was limited, like the drive from the airport to the hotel. Although we did some scuba diving. [Co-star] Fred [Hechinger] and I both have our PADI [scuba] Licence. Neither of us was really in it. (Laughs.) Our instructor was a little stunned. Ninety-nine percent of the time people are excited, but I was like, “How many ways can I die underwater?” I had a bad shooting experience Crimson Tide. There is a scene where we all drown in the submarine. They told us we would be underwater for 30 seconds. Thirty seconds doesn’t seem long. But when you act like you’re dying, it gets difficult. They said, “If you feel like you need help just fold your arms and we’ll come get you. First take, everyone crossed their arms.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
This story first appeared in the July 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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