Steve Zahn

STEVE ZAHN has received critical praise for his work on both stage and screen. His standout performance in "Happy, Texas" won him a Grand Jury Special Actor Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor. His starring role opposite Christian Bale in "Rescue Dawn" for director Werner Herzog, won Zahn an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Zahn's credits include a starring role opposite Jennifer Aniston in the romantic comedy "Management"; "A Perfect Getaway" with Timothy Olyphant and Milla Jovovich; "The Great Buck Howard," alongside Tom Hanks and John Malkovich; and "Night Train," also starring Danny Glover.

Zahn made his screen debut in Ben Stiller's "Reality Bites," which led to Zahn's breakthrough performance in Tom Hanks' directorial debut, "That Thing You Do!" in which Zahn portrayed Lenny, the lead guitarist for The Wonders, a struggling band that rises to fame after releasing a top-forty single.

Zahn received critical acclaim for his scene-stealing portrayal of Glen Michaels in "Out of Sight" for director Stephen Soderbergh, and for his heartbreaking turn as a drug addicted father in director Penny Marshall's "Riding in Cars with Boys." Additional credits include: "Strange Wilderness," "Sahara," "Chicken Little" (as the voice of Runt), "Bandidas," "Suburbia" (reprising the role he created in the off-Broadway production), "Shattered Glass," "Daddy Day Care," "National Security," "Hamlet," "Joy Ride," "Saving Silverman," "Safe Men," "You've Got Mail," "The Object of My Affection," "Speak," and voice roles in "Dr. Dolittle 2," "Stuart Little" and "Stuart Little 2."

On television Zahn stars in creator/executive producer David Simon's "Treme" for HBO. The post-Katrina-themed drama chronicles the rebuilding of New Orleans through the eyes of several musicians. Zahn had a starring role alongside Val Kilmer and Rachel Griffiths in "Comanche Moon." In this prequel to "Lonesome Dove," written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Zahn portrayed Gus McCrae, the role made famous by Robert Duvall in "Lonesome Dove." Additionally, Zahn guest starred as Tony Shaloub's half-brother on the series "Monk."

A native of Marshall, Minnesota, Zahn was introduced to improvisational theater in high school. After completing his freshman year at Gustavus-Adolphus College in Minnesota, he crashed the audition of a local production of "Biloxi Blues," winning the lead role in the play. Following his debut, he trained for two years at the prestigious American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before moving to New York and being cast in Tommy Tune's national tour of "Bye Bye Birdie." He then landed a role opposite Ethan Hawke in "Sophistry" at the renowned Playwright's Horizon.

© 2012 20th Century Fox