Steve Zahn explores nature in Cowboys while taking his son an adventure meant to prove his love and acceptance. The already acclaimed family drama, which arrives in theaters on February 12 after an Outfest premiere last year, doubles as a modern Western that explores relevant topics to parents and children alike.
Troy (Zahn, Uncle Frank) and Sally (Jillian Bell, Godmothered) hit an even rougher patch than their separation when Troy absconds with their young son, Joe (Sasha Knight). While technically a kidnapping, it's also very much appreciated by Joe, who wants to be free to identify as a boy against his mother's wishes. What follows is an exploration of not only the land around them, but the humanity within.
Zahn and Knight spoke to Screen Rant about their reasons for choosing the project and the real-life excitement they felt while filming.
What was it that really spoke to you about Cowboys and made you get involved with it?
Sasha Knight: Definitely that Joe is trans, because I wasn't out to a lot of people when we read the script. But me my mom read it, and we were both blown away. We were like, "Wow, this is gonna reach people. This is amazing."
I actually wasn't allowed to do on-camera auditions, but my mom was like, "Okay, you can do it.” Because it was just amazing.
Steve Zahn: It's this incredibly important story to tell that has the backdrop of a Western and is shot in Montana on horseback. Which is these two things you wouldn't think would fit, or that a Western would carry this kind of a story. And yet, it's kind of perfect.
Troy's this really troubled, flawed guy that does the best he can, and I was just blown away and really moved by this story. It's this kind of father-son journey; all he cares about is [his son]. He doesn't care who his son is, it's just unconditional love and he just wants to make him happy. That's all there is. It just moved me.
Joe has a really complicated dynamic with both his parents, because like Steve just said, his father only wants what's best for him emotionally. But his mother is the one that provides maybe more physical safety. Can you talk about how Joe feels about his parents, and how that grows over the course of the movie?
Sasha Knight: I feel like Joe definitely favors his dad over his mom, obviously. He just wants to be himself, and his dad provides that for him when his mom is kind of sheltering her beliefs. But it's all in the end just to protect Joe - that's what she sees as protecting Joe, but Joe sees that as hurting him.
I think what I was trying to portray is that Joe still loves his mom, he just has trouble loving her compared to his dad.
You mentioned the film is a Western, and you guys were really out there in the desert environment. How did using the physical environment help the character and the story?
Steve Zahn: Well, that's the beauty of movies. That's the true fun of shooting movies. You can sit on a lot and shoot in a studio, and it feels like prison. But when you're in an environment like that, it's so much easier to pretend. It's so much easier not to lie; it's so much easier to be honest.
Because you have this other character that's just playing this honesty around you. I know that sounds deep and everything, but it really is true. It takes all the pressure off, in a weird way. You're riding a horse, and you're supposed to respond to what you see. When you read that you go, "How am I going to do this?" And then when you're there on the day, it's pretty easy. Those are the good gigs, man; those are the ones that are fun. Those are the ones where you're cold and you're wet, but they're more fun in the end.
Sasha, did you have fun on the set up and learn any camping or horseback riding tricks?
Sasha Knight: Yeah, I had so much fun. I already kind of knew how to horseback ride; it's just so much fun doing it. I've never done horseback riding with another person before, so that was really cool.
Steve Zahn: It was like, "Hey, we're gonna teach you how to get up on the back of the horse," and it was just like, "Come 'ere!" And it was done.
Cowboys opens in theaters on February 12.