One comic actor more noticeably under the radar than most is Steve Zahn. However, with each movie he has done, his critical notices in his roles have helped to gradually heighten his profile.
Zahn’s films include Reality Bites, That Thing You Do!Happy, Texas, National Security, Daddy Day Care, Sahara, Riding In Cars With Boys, & Strange Wilderness. His latest role is as Mike Cranshaw in the independent romantic comedy Management.
Mike Cranshaw is an unfocused, undisciplined assistant motel manager who desires to aspire to greatness after meeting the more focused Sue Claussen, played by Jennifer Aniston. The 41 year-old actor first shared with us how he found the pathetic nature of Mike appealing in writer and first-time director Stephen Belber’s script.
“Yeah, it was a very subtle kind of wording,” Steve recalls, “That line was very close to one another. So we had to constantly kind of like make sure that we weren’t kind of moving into the psycho, loser kind of stalker guy. The rhythm, too, it was so…I had never read anything just so kind of pure, I think, as far as a character and I didn’t really worry that much about it becoming that.”
“And I think, partially, also because of the writer, Steve [Belber’s] sensibilities, as a person and as a director,” he adds, “I was convinced right off the bat, this guy is…this is going to be handled properly. I just thought it was quite a different, just the humor, it goes from being very serious to there’s scenes with Fred Ward that are real believable, kitchen sink-like, then you go to Woody [Harrelson] and it’s absurd and slapstick, but it all somehow works. It’s because it’s all believable.”
We asked Steve whether he has been as persistent with women as his character Mike is in the film with Aniston’s character Sue.
“Yeah. I was persistent,” he admits.
We also asked Zahn to verify whether it was true what co-star Jennifer Aniston said of him that he “whittled a turtle out of soup”.
“Yeah I did, I was very persistent for months. It’s a long story. It goes on.” Steve replies.
Steve goes on to say that despite the character’s bizarre eccentricities, he finds many qualities of Mike relatable to himself.
“Definitely,” Zahn believes, “But just on a human level, too, not just, you know, I did that too. I just connected with it. I don’t know. I don’t know how to really answer it other than that.”
Management is the directorial debut of Stephen Belber, whose previously written the films Tape (adapted from a play he himself wrote), The Laramie Project, and Match. We asked Zahn how he felt about working with a newcomer behind the camera.
“Yeah, he’s real. I mean, he’s part of the club, man,” Steve simply states.
One of the highlight scenes of Management was the film’s laundry scene.
“It was fun,” Zahn notes, “And great after, because, you know it was very kind of awkward and silent. It was so funny.”
Another highlight was an “ass-grabbing scene”, which is prominently recreated on the poster for the film.
“An ass,” Steve exclaims, “They felt an ass! It’s asses, you know. It was warm.”
A particular funny scene Steve alludes to was a dog attack scene that ended up getting cut from the final film.
“I really wanted that,” Zahn says, “It’s all gone. No, wait, maybe there’s one. It was so fun. And the big thing that went off the ramp because they wanted more height, oh, shit. Sorry. I had the suit and they took a chunk off it. It could drag you around and it doesn’t hurt a bit. It’s just something to see a dog come at you like that.”
Finally, Zahn shared with us how much he enjoyed working with co-star Jennifer Aniston.
“It was a delight, I swear,” Steve gushes, “I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun. I had fun riding horses and doing stuff in other movies, but like as far as going to work and working with someone you feel totally comfortable with, it’s just a delight and a warm, wonderful person and you felt the work was great. It was a great gig for that.”
