Steve Zahn has had his fair share of on-screen victories in everything from "Saving Silverman" to "War for the Planet of the Apes." But he just can't seem to defeat the demons who apparently are house-sitting his Minnesota cabin.
"I just got off the phone with my insurance company. The furnace blew up," said Zahn, who was facing the very same crisis when we last spoke four years ago. "The toilets are frozen solid. My brother-in-law is up there right now, taking them out."
Zahn's latest character also seems to be in the midst of a can't-win battle. In "The Crossing," which debuts Monday on ABC, he plays Jude Ellis, a sheriff who has abandoned the Big City for small-town America, where he expects to face nothing more strenuous than a Pilates class.
No such luck.
By the premiere's first commercial break, his team has discovered dozens of bodies on the beach. The survivors insist they are from the future and have migrated back in time to forge a better life and to warn of an impending apocalypse. Ellis handles the doomsday scenario with a few double takes, but mostly quiet confidence.
After a career dominated by Barney Fife roles, Zahn has finally been cast as Andy Taylor.
"I thought it was a unique role that I had not played before, which is one of the big reasons I was interested in it," said Zahn, who recently turned 50. "When you're young, you get pigeonholed, which is understandable. You're 24, you're 29, and you don't look any different. You're still the stoner. But as you age, it becomes more interesting."
Zahn's reputation for injecting comedy into otherwise skimpy parts — watch "Reality Bites" and "You've Got Mail" to refresh your memory — was one reason the network wanted him.
