-Thank you so much for being here, pal.
-Thanks for having me.
-Not only am I talking to the great actor Steve Zahn,
but I'm also talking to one of "People's" Sexiest Men Alive.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Whoa.
Look at you! That's what I'm talking about.
-I think it was obviously a horrible mistake.
-No, wait, look how sexy you are in this.
-Yeah, but... [ Cheering ]
-Yeah.
-I -- No, honestly, when they said, "You want to do this?"
and I said -- I laughed.
-Yeah. -And I said no.
And then, like, every woman in my life went,
"What, are you crazy?" -Yeah, you have to.
-"You have to do it."
And I was like, Alright, okay, I'll do it.
-Are you comfortable doing these photoshoots?
-No, that's the point. -Yeah.
-It's one thing if they were like, "Congratulations,"
but then you have to actually go and do it
-And be sexy. -Exactly.
-Yeah. -And you can't possibly.
-You can't help yourself.
-No, I went in and...
In the moment, I was very nervous,
and I looked like
I was taking a picture for the yearbook.
You know, like --
-Yeah, exactly.
-But my photographer -- this is great.
My photographer gave me two tips on how to look sexy.
-Oh, wow.
-Okay, one is,
if you don't know what to do with your hands,
you look like you're just like, scratch a little bit.
-Uh-huh.
-But don't just plant it.
It's not like, you know... -Oh, really scratch?
-Yeah, you don't have poison ivy,
but it's like, you know. -But it's something.
-And then he said,
"Your look is,
'Did I leave the oven on at home?'"
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ]
-Not bad. That's it.
[ Laughter ]
That's not bad.
Hey, buddy, I have to say, really,
and I would say this to you off-camera as well,
but what you did, your performance in "White Lotus"
was unbelievable.
[ Applause ] -Thank you.
-It is a master class in acting.
You were so in the zone --
I was gonna say you're in the Zahn,
but I wouldn't do that.
That's corny.
I didn't want to do that because really,
I'm going to say that
someone said that we're in a Zahn-issance.
And I said, that doesn't even make sense.
I think we're in a... -Yeah, no, that's weird.
-Renai-zahn-ce. -A Zahn-issance.
-But I didn't write this, so...
-Yeah, but if somebody says it's a Zahn-issance,
then it's like -- I wasn't in a coma, you know?
Like, I've been here. -Oh, yeah.
-I've been doing stuff.
-Yeah, Zahn-issance almost sounds like a Toyota-thon.
-Well, it's like you disappeared.
-Oh. Oh, really? -You know.
-Yeah, but you've never gone away.
-No. No, I've been here. -Yeah.
You crushed this thing. What was it like?
Where did you film? It was during the pandemic.
Were you in Hawaii? -Yeah, we were in Hawaii.
So, you know, like everybody, we were all in our houses
and I hadn't worked in eight months,
and then I got a call to do this,
and it's Mike White, and it's an amazing script.
-Was the script amazing when you got it?
-It was incredible.
-I know he's an amazing writer. -Yeah, it was great.
-I know it was done so quickly
that you just don't see television almost this --
-We did 6 hours in 2 1/2 months.
-That's what I'm saying. It's fantastic.
-And we were at the Four Seasons Resort in Hawaii.
-It was closed. -Closed.
I was gonna say, there's no humans there, yeah?
-Yeah, so we were in a bubble. -Wow.
Everybody in the whole show was phenomenal.
-It was an amazing cast.
-And then I got to...
We got to see more of you
than most people get to see of anyone.
-Well, that was fake junk on a fake me.
-It wasn't even you?
-No, because Mike was like,
"Hey, you have to approve the prosthetic."
[ Laughter ]
-Or prosthetics.
-Yeah. -Right? It was more than one.
-Yeah. And he was like, "Is this cool?"
And I was like, "Yeah, I don't care."
-But you had to look at it and approve it?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did.
-You go, "That's kind of like mine."
-And then I was like, "Do I have to put that over?
That doesn't make any sense."
Like...
And he was like, "Well, you don't have to.
We can put it on somebody else."
I was like, "How long is it going to take?"
He said, "Like two and a half hours."
I said, "No, I'll go to the beach."
-Yeah, "I'm in Hawaii. I've got to put this thing on?"
-So it wasn't me. -So it wasn't even you.
Wait, sorry. So, good. -How absurd is that?
-It's like, the guy was naked
and then they put a naked thing on him to look like...
-Like he was naked.
-Yeah, our society is so crazy now.
-Yeah, it's wild.
But you just crushed it, buddy, so congrats on that.
You got just amazing reviews and well-deserved.
Just awesome, awesome, awesome job.
-Thanks.
[ Applause ]
-But let's talk holidays.
Let's talk about it "8-Bit Christmas."
I want to talk about this. I love holiday movies.
-Awesome. -That's my jam.
I love video games.
-Well, then this movie is right down your alley.
-Yeah. -So my son wants a Nintendo.
It's like, 1988, '87. He wants a Nintendo.
-Everyone did. -Right.
8-bit, you know?
So it's, by today's standards, not very good.
-Yeah.
-And we don't know about it, as parents.
I play his dad. -Yeah.
-But it's told --
Neil Patrick Harris is my son, older,
telling his daughter his story
of how he wanted a Nintendo for Christmas.
-Are you in that generation, where you grew up with Nintendo?
-Yeah. -What games?
What are you playing?
-My wife and I, we were poor actors in New York.
-Yeah. -True story.
And we went out, and because we were so pissed at being poor,
we went out and we got sushi and bought a Nintendo 64.
I swear to God.
-You go, "Enough is enough! I don't care!"
-And we live in Hoboken and played "Zelda."
"Legend of Zelda."
-That's my favorite. "Legend of Zelda."
That's my favorite. -"GoldenEye."
-"GoldenEye" is another classic.
What else did I love?
I had the wrestling one. I think was called "Wrestling."
-Yeah.
-This was back in the day when they were really just like --
yeah, they're like, "Just call it 'Wrestling.'"
Yeah, yeah, sure. "Hockey," yeah.
"Mega Man" was my jam. -The year.
-Let's call it the year, yeah.
Do you remember that one Atari game "Adventure"?
-No. -It's like, you travel around.
I think you were a seahorse. -What?
-And you had to travel around and get a key?
-No, really? -It was rough.
It was real bad. -You remember "Driver"?
Remember "Driver"?
-"Driver" sounds -- I assume it's car game?
-"Driver," where you just went around and the cops chased you?
Anybody remember "Driver"?
-Yeah! -That's a classic.
-That was on... -Coleco?
-No. Uh...
PlayStation.
-Oh, wow. You're going really advanced.
Oh, I was saying like, do you remember "Kaboom"?
-Yeah.
-You didn't like it? -Nah.
-Because of the explosions? The violence?
-No, I played like, "Duck Hunt."
-Oh, yeah.
[ Laughter ]
I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Steve Zahn in "8-Bit Christmas."
Take a look.
-Apparently, video games have been doing
all kinds of strange things to children in Japan.
I'm very glad that we do not have one. [ Laughs ]
-But -- but, you -- you said I could get one for Christmas.
-I said nothing of the sort.
-Video games make you fat, Jake. It's a fact.
-Cabbage Patch Kids don't make you fat.
-No, no, no. No, no.
Dad, you said I could have one too.
No, I didn't. Well, okay, I did.
But I thought that it was an Asian tool brand,
like Makita.
You know what? No Nintendo in my house.
-I second that.
-Me three, and that makes a majority.
Looks like a no-go on the 'tendo.
-Oh!
That's what I'm talking about.
Steve Zahn!
"8-Bit Christmas" premieres November 24th on HBO Max.