Emmy-nominated actor and amiable native Minnesotan Steve Zahn (“Happy, Texas,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “War for the Planet of the Apes”) has compiled an impressive body of work in his diverse thirty-year career, but nothing more challenging than a hermit-like ADHD-stricken manchild prone to outbursts in Apple TV+’s hit sci-fi series, “Silo.”
Zahn’s turn as Solo, the emotionally stunted, enigmatic survivor from “Silo” Season 2 is one of those rare roles that comes along all too infrequently, enabling talented performers to dip deep into their toolbox and take a forceful swing for the fences.
“Sometimes you get into a show and they stifle it with notes and it’s a constant tweaking,” Zahn tells Space.com. “In this show it was just playtime.”
Claiming to have been the IT’s shadow as a youth when Silo 17’s doomed rebellion made the hasty decision to charge outside into the toxic landscape of a post-apocalyptic Earth, Solo retreated inside the forbidden vault that houses The Legacy, a repository for all human knowledge and history linked to an AI interface. When Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) arrives at the start of this sophomore season, Solo is hesitant to reveal his identity, and a number of clues throughout the past seven episodes lead us to believe that he’s definitely hiding some unfathomable truth.
We connected with Zahn to hear more about how he joined this project, working with creator/showrunner Graham Yost, how he composed his authentic rendition of Solo, and the natural chemistry and close bond forged with star Rebecca Ferguson.
“My producing partner, Rick Gomez, and best friend, is in the show,” Zahn tells Space.com. “He plays Kennedy. Rick was in season 1 and so I knew about the show. Well, we shot this series of mockumentary shorts about a guy who’s famous for taking photos of fireworks. Rebecca wanted to see them and she saw it and thought I’d be great for a part in Silo next year. I sat here with Graham and Rebecca as they pitched me this character and it sounded amazing. This guy who’s lived his entire life alone. Then I saw the show and read everything and I was completely in. And then Graham is a legend. He’s a brilliant storyteller so that’s not a bad family to be in.”
Parallels between Solo and Zahn’s motion capture gig as the sympathetic Bad Ape in “War for the Planet of the Apes” won’t be lost on anyone familiar with his work.
“I never thought of the connection until someone else brought that up. There’s this vulnerability in both of them that’s really palpable. From other characters played, it’s like you have this library of moments. Most of them are borrowed, by the way. 98% of them them are from like John Savage, and this one is from Jack Nicholson, or Otis Young. So I think there is a unique connection to both characters.”
In Silo, Zahn delivers a nuanced transformation to flesh out the oddball Solo, and the award-winning actor recognizes many attributes he layers into his intense scenes.
“I just thought of him as this really curious delightful kid that is so preoccupied,” Zahn notes. “He can’t concentrate on anything for more than five seconds. In normal society it would be like, ‘Oh, we need to medicate you.’ It’s the thing that really keeps him alive, this curiosity and this playfulness and this wanting to not go to sleep.”
Working directly with Ferguson in his Silo 17 episodes, Zahn helped cultivate an organic chemistry that’s generated many Solo mysteries over the season’s course.
“She’s amazing and she’s prepared and smart and intently listens constantly,” he adds. “Nothing gets past her. And we work very similarly. I like to have a good time on set. I over-prepare so I don’t have to worry about stuff and I like to screw around and joke. Even on heavy days. We can drop it and go right back into it and we hit it off immediately. It truly was a joy to go to work every single day. We never had a moment that was weird. It felt like I was doing a Pinter play with my best friend doing a long run in some little theater and it was a hit show. It was so fun.”
In Episode 4, “The Harmonium,” Zahn perfectly epitomizes his dedication to the complex role of Solo, where he innocently describes the minute details of trapeze artists and circus animals to Juliette, who has no understanding of the concepts.
“That was one of my favorite scenes,” admits Zahn. “I couldn’t wait to do that scene. It really represents who he is and it was so fun to be on that incredible set with so many toys. I love that scene, it’s beautiful. There’s a lot of different variables that make it something that you’re proud of. With so many amazing human beings on this crew and this really tight-knit group of people, you hope that it transcends into the show. That’s why I’m so proud of it.”
“Silo” Season 2 streams Fridays on Apple TV+, with the season finale airing Jan. 17.