Steve Zahn, calling in from Midway, Kentucky, reveals he wrote, produced, and starred in a new independent film 'She Dances' alongside his daughter Audrey, shot entirely in Kentucky using a 30-35% state rebate to keep costs down. He also opens up about still getting genuinely nervous before every job — including this podcast appearance — and credits overpreparing as the single most important advice he gives young actors.
Key Moments
Steve Zahn
“Rebecca saw a short that we did um that Macaroni Art did. We did a series of shorts called Uncandra and I played this like I played this fictional artist, this photographer that's famous for taking photographs of fireworks and it was just short and she was like, 'Oh my god, he'd be perfect for this part.'”
Steve explains how Rebecca Ferguson came to cast him in Silo — through a short film his own production company made.
“I still get really nervous, man. I get scared when I go to a gig. And you know, I was nervous coming on here. I mean, you know, I'm nervous right now.”
Steve answers whether his approach to acting has changed with age, admitting his nerves have never gone away.
SmartLess is a comedy interview podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett. Each episode features a surprise guest reveal, with the three hosts riffing and interviewing in their signature loose, jokey style. The show is one of the most-downloaded podcasts in the world, known for its chemistry between hosts as much as its celebrity guests.
Takeaways
1
Indie film shoots where the rebate is Steve Zahn and Rick Gomez shot 'She Dances' entirely in Kentucky, leveraging a 30% (35% outside certain zones) state production rebate to dramatically cut costs. This is a concrete example of how independent filmmakers are routing projects away from traditional hubs to capture state incentives. Below-the-line crew costs qualify, making regional production increasingly viable for small-budget features.
2
A short film got Steve Zahn cast in Silo Rebecca Ferguson discovered Steve through a short film series called 'Uncandra,' produced by his company Macaroni Art, in which he played a fictional photographer famous for fireworks images. She brought him directly to the Silo team without a traditional audition process. It's a clear case of personal creative work acting as a calling card that opened a major studio role.
3
Overprepare so thoroughly nerves become irrelevant Steve's standing advice — to himself, his daughter, and young actors — is to overprepare to the point where you can adapt to anything any scene partner does. He and Audrey read the 'She Dances' script together every day for a month while he was filming Silo, so they arrived on set with total fluency. The goal of preparation is flexibility, not rigidity.
4
Living outside industry cities didn't hurt the career Steve has lived in rural Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and now Midway, Kentucky for most of his career, never residing in LA or New York full-time. He argues that once you have a reputation, casting comes to you regardless of geography — 'Any chance Steve Zahn's available? I don't care where we got to fly him in from.' The geographic flexibility modern production allows makes this more true than ever.
5
Self-tape auditions let actors control quality Steve notes that while he mostly gets offers now, the self-tape era benefits actors because they can submit only when they're satisfied, eliminating the unpredictability of a live room read with an ill-matched scene partner. The old system forced actors to improvise around bad readers, sometimes hurting a performance through no fault of their own. Self-taping shifts quality control back to the performer.