In the year 2000, Steve Zahn covered Neil Diamond songs opposite Jack Black on the set of the now-cult comedy, Saving Silverman. 25 years later, Zahn and Black picked up right where they left off by holding impromptu sing-alongs on the Australian set of Tom Gormican’s meta Anaconda reboot. But instead of Silverman’s angry raccoon, Zahn — along with Black, Paul Rudd and Thandiwe Newton — have to run for their lives from an anaconda and murderous gold miners. Their characters are underachievers who risk it all to fulfill their childhood dream of making an Anaconda reboot in the Amazon rainforest.
The film has plenty of action and effects that warrant the moviegoing experience, but the heart of the matter is that of a laugh-out-loud comedy, something that’s in shorter supply nowadays. And in a time where conflict seems inescapable, Zahn believes that Anaconda (2025) is the light-hearted movie audiences could use right now.
“In all seriousness, I really believe that this movie is medicine right now. It’s kind of perfect,” Zahn tells The Hollywood Reporter.
For the last 15 years, Zahn’s name has been tied to the legend surrounding Bryan Cranston’s casting in the role of Walter White on Breaking Bad. Neither the studio, Sony, nor the network, AMC, were amped to cast “the dad from Malcolm in the Middle,” and names such as Matthew Broderick and John Cusack were discussed internally without formal offers. Cranston was the one who later revealed in interviews and his 2016 memoir, My Life in Parts, that Zahn was a contender for his role. Bear in mind, the character was originally meant to align with creator Vince Gilligan’s age in 2007, and Zahn happens to be the same age as him. But once Gilligan got his wish to cast Cranston, the role of the high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin was aged up to 50 to accommodate the latter’s own age at the time.
While Zahn may have been on an internal list, he throws cold water on Cranston’s account that he was ever seriously in the mix. He never had any dialogue with Gilligan, Sony or AMC.
“Cranston is so awesome, but I find that hard to believe. I think Cranston is lying!” Zahn says mid-laugh about his former That Thing You Do! and From the Earth to the Moon castmate. “He’s in London right now doing a play, and I’m shooting in London, so I’m going to go talk to him.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Zahn also explains how he repeatedly committed the “cardinal sin” on the uproarious set of Anaconda.
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I always wanted a second season of Mad Dogs, and Anaconda definitely scratched that itch. You and a few friends in a dangerous jungle are always worth a watch.
Oh, right on! Kenny, my Anaconda character, is a little more dimwitted and simple than my character in Mad Dogs.
Claire (Thandiwe Newton), Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Griff (Paul Rudd) in 2025’s Anaconda.
Sony Pictures
You worked with Paul Rudd on 1998’s The Object of Affection, and a few years later, you worked with Jack Black on Saving Silverman. Was this a genuine reunion? Or had you seen them around over the years?
No, I had not seen Jack or Paul [since]. I remember I was shooting a movie in Montana, and I heard Jack was in town. And I was like [via text], “Is this still your number, man?” I was trying to meet while crossing paths. So I hadn’t seen Paul or Jack, and it was so much fun to reunite. When I worked with them [back then], we were inseparable. We hung out. Jack and I were in Vancouver [for Saving Silverman], and we would take our per diem to Virgin Records on a Saturday and buy 30 CDs. So every day [on Anaconda] was an absolute joy. We hung out in a little tent on set, eating hummus and carrots. We told stories and bitched. It was really great fun.
There’s a scene in which your character uses Paul’s character as a human chair to aid Jack’s character. Did your relationship with each other feel even stronger after that day?
(Laughs.) It did, yes. Those physical scenes get you. It’s like combat except there’s no bullets. We’ve been through a lot together. When I read that four-page scene, I was like, “This is insane.” I love shooting a movie where you have a four-page scene like that with production value that is way up here. That kind of contradiction is really fun.
You, as Kenny, also stuff a dead squirrel in Doug’s (Black) mouth. How many takes did Jack need to not react or flinch?
Jack was actually really good. He was covered in goo with that boar taped to him for two days, and he was a trooper, man. I would’ve been out of my mind. When you do something like that on set, you channel memories. You’re thinking, “How do I get through the day with all this? I’m just going to try to remember everybody in my third grade class.” When you get a head cast done, you go into that world. You think of things, like, “I’m going to walk through my childhood house.” So I think he was channeling.
Maybe you were using your character’s cell phone, but I saw a set video of you recording Jack singing Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait” on the boat. Was that a microcosm of the larger shoot?
Yes, it was a constant concert. It looks as if everything was planned, but it wasn’t. Hanging out on set with those two was so much fun. [Co-writer/director] Tom [Gormican] and [co-writer/producer] Kevin [Etten] would then let us go during scenes, and I continuously screwed up takes, which is a cardinal sin in a comedy with people that are geniuses. I laughed at these guys like I was watching TV in my trailer alone. It was constant entertainment. Jack would just start singing a song, and then the sound department would start playing the song so everyone could then sing along. It was crazy fun.
Yeah, Jack and Paul are known for being unpredictable once the camera is rolling, so do you like working on your toes in that respect?
Yes, it worked because my character, in contrast to them, is kind of an observer. I made what they were doing part of my guy in a way. It was a juxtaposition. It’s like we were all playing jazz. Those guys were the solo trumpet, and I was the tambourine guy in the jazz band. It’s weird, but it worked.
Your character is the DP/camera operator of their no-budget Anaconda reboot. Did you borrow from anyone you’ve worked with over the years?
Well, my guy is also every guy. He’s the camera operator and DP, but he’s also the grip, the best boy, craft service and sound. So I tried to be the biggest helper of all time who’s just there for everybody.
You’ve never had to outduel an anaconda in the Amazon rainforest, but have you had your own dangerous encounter with wildlife at some point in your life?
I live on a farm, so I would say an out-of-control horse that I was riding. On the set, we had a snake wrangler that would walk around with this bag and a stick all day. If we were sitting around talking, he would be ten feet over there just going through the woods and looking under stuff. He found snakes all the time — dangerous ones like the brown snake. It was really crazy.
Were there any close calls?
No, but he did get a snake within the set one day, so that was kind of cool.
That sounds like Rescue Dawn all over again.
(Laughs.) Yeah, I remember doing this scene in Rescue Dawn with a leaf over my head, and there was a little hole in it. Werner Herzog then put this caterpillar right on it, and I was like, “He’s going for the hole, man!” I then looked over at this local dude, and he was like, “That’s not good.” And I said, “Werner, this is not good.” And he’s like, “Oh, it’s fine!” He then put the caterpillar in his hand, and he was like, “Ow!” (Laughs.) I was like, “I told you! And that was about to crawl into my nose, Werner.”
This movie is a meta reboot of 1997’s Anaconda, but it’s also a send-up of reboots in general. As a young kid, I remember going to see That Thing You Do! in a sold-out theater, and all we had to go on was Tom Hanks’ name. That’s one of many great original films on your résumé. Do you miss those days when IP wasn’t the be-all, end-all?
Yeah, for sure. It’s like, “Come up with something!” But we’re so used to the same kind of rebooting that I think Anaconda will be a surprise to people. It’s singular, and it lives on its own. You don’t even have to see the original 1997 Anaconda to understand it, unless you’re really slow.
Do you remember feeling a noticeable shift in terms of what the industry now prioritizes?
There’s little shifts here and there and everywhere, and some are good and some are bad. But I live on a farm in Kentucky. I don’t sit and soak in the industry, so I’m really not a great person to ask. But just look at the fact that we got to do a crazy comedy again. There’s this trend right now where a lot of movies are about bad decisions, and as an actor, I’m like, “Wow, it’s refreshing to play an idiot and be in something that’s silly.” In all seriousness, I really believe that this movie is medicine right now. It’s kind of perfect.
You’ve been in your fair share of comedies, but now they have to be paired with something else, be it action, superheroes, etc.
You’re right. That’s another change. It’s no longer just some organic thing like Saving Silverman. That was an insane movie. And it was panned. It didn’t do well, and yet, it’s lasted the test of time. People come up to me all the time and go, “Love that movie.” So it’s time and place. Westerns are gone, but when somebody does a great Western, there’s all of a sudden a market for it. The industry wants a formula; it’s always wanted a formula. They want a formula that they can use for something to be a hit, but it doesn’t exist.
Sony is the studio behind this movie; they were also the studio behind a television show called Breaking Bad. Were you just on a shortlist for the role of Walter White? Or was there some actual back and forth?
No.
Cranston himself put it out there that you were up for his role. (His memoir, My Life in Parts, mentions it as well.)
Oh, really!? Cranston is so awesome, but I find that hard to believe. I think Cranston is lying! (Laughs.)
Your name has been a part of this legend for at least 15 years now.
He’s in London right now doing a play, and I’m shooting in London, so I’m going to go talk to him.
What’s funny is you shot Sunshine Cleaning in Albuquerque at the same time that Breaking Bad’s pilot was shooting in Albuquerque, and there’s a ton of overlap between the two in terms of locations and story. Two working-class characters in hazmat suits are trying to make a living from opposing sides of the law.
Yeah, that’s true.
So, for my own amusement, I’ve always told myself that they exist in the same universe.
Wow, I didn’t think that was the same year. Albuquerque, there’s a town for you.
Steven Zahn in The White Lotus season one.
HBO
When you wrapped The White Lotus, did you assume it would be one and done since it was originally created to be a pandemic-friendly production?
Well, I knew that [HBO] really liked it, and you immediately start thinking, “How would you continue this?” And I remember us talking, like, “It would just go to another place,” which it did. So I thought it would be the easiest thing to continue, and Mike is just a genius. If anybody can keep something afloat, it’s him.
Lastly, if the Anaconda characters’ childhood dream is to make an Anaconda reboot, have you now accomplished whatever your version of that was as a kid?
Yeah, I think I’ve fulfilled a lot of those childhood dreams: “I want to be in a Western, I want to be in a war flick. I want to be in a really funny movie. I want to be in a movie that I write and produce.” And I did that. It’s a movie called She Dances, and I made it with my daughter, my family and my [producing] partner’s family. It comes out March 27th. And if that’s the end, I’m happy.
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Anaconda opens in theaters on December 25.
