From Air Bud to the A-list.
Already home field for up- and-coming Hollywood hot shots Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, the London, Ont. area has another on the way: Kevin Zegers.
The St. Marys-born, Woodstock actor is getting major Hollywood buzz for his role in the drama Transamerica, which has opened in limited release.
Among other events this awards season, he'll be attending Monday's Golden Globe Awards.
And Zegers, 21, gives the London bar scene, where he says he did a lot of people-watching as a teenager, some credit for his acting chops.
"After doing this for almost an entire summer, I became much more focused on my work. I wanted to be able to create characters as complex and interesting as those I met in the bars."
His lead role in Transamerica opposite Desperate Housewives star and Golden Globe nominee Felicity Huffman marks a major transition in the life and career of Zegers.
"This is the first film where I was able to really put 100 per cent of myself into my work."
The film is set to launch its London cinema run in mid-February.
"The role enabled me to finally be seen as an adult actor and to break away from the stereotype which had been created for young actors. And I got the chance to see what I was capable of doing."
Zegers is attracting critical acclaim for his portrayal of Toby, a drugged-out New York City street youth who meets Bree (Huffman), a man in the final stages of completing a sex change. The script's dramatic twist is that Bree is actually Toby's long-absent father.
"Unlike a lot of other movies, Transamerica has something to say," adds Zegers. "It's a road picture about a transsexual and a street hustler, these two troubled people who find each and both really need someone to love them."
Raised in Ingersoll and Woodstock, the son of Jim and Mary-Ellen Zegers began acting in TV commercials at age six. Two years later, he made his big-screen debut in Life With Mikey, a comedy starring fellow Canadian Michael J. Fox.
At age 12, he came to broad public notice starring opposite the basketball-playing dog in the 1997 movie Air Bud, reprising the role of the title canine's best friend in three sequels and was the hockey-playing chimpanzee's co-star in MVP -- Most Valuable Primate.
Because of those animal-film assignments, whimsical labels, like "Hollywood's dog boy" and "the monkey movie boy," were attached to the young performer who much prefers his longtime nickname, Ziggy.
In addition to numerous guest shots on TV series, more than 20 film titles appear on Zegers's resume, among them Treasure Island, Virginia's Run, Dawn of the Dead, The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie and It Came From The Sky.
"Not to knock the other movies I've done, but Transamerica is the one I'm proudest of," says the actor by telephone from the Los Angeles home he shares with Marisa Couglan, who stars on the TV series Boston Legal.
The two met at a 2004 Halloween party given by a mutual friend.
"I came dressed as a painting and Marisa showed up in a cowgirl costume," recalls Zegers, who just finished The Return Of Zoom, a "superhero" movie co-starring Tim Allen, Courteney Cox and Chevy Chase.
"I'm the bad guy in the plot, a character named Connor Concussion," says the actor, who'll also appear in another summer 2006 release, It's A Boy Girl Thing, a romantic comedy co-produced by Elton John and Mel Gibson.
He's focused on attending the Golden Globes, Critic's Choice and other movie prize ceremonies honouring Transamerica.
"We're going to do the whole award season. I always vowed never to go to any of those award shows unless I was in a movie that was nominated," says Zegers, the former kid movie star now staking his claim to serious actor status.
Working alongside Huffman in Transamerica turned out to be a valuable learning experience for her young co-star.
"I came to adopt Felicity's philosophy about acting. It's called 'Work your ass off!' Go all out, each and every day. Always be ready to work, and accept the challenge of being the best actor on the planet."
Huffman has drawn two Golden Globe nominations, one for her performance in Transamerica, the other for her role in the hit TV series Desperate Housewives.
"Felicity's very gracious about the awards, but she really doesn't care about winning them. She's all about being selfless, showing up on the set and doing her job," says Zegers.
"Getting to watch her up close was great for me. I take acting much more seriously now. I always worked pretty hard before, but I also figured being a movie actor was about having fun, making money and being friends with cool people."
Kevin Zegers answers a few choice questions:
The thing most people don't know about me is . . . "I'm an old man at heart. I love dinner at six, nickel slots and smoking cigars."
Guilty pleasures: "Poker and beer."
If I weren't in this career, I'd be . . . "Unemployed."
Perfect night in: "Wine, swordfish and Marisa." (Zegers's girlfriend, Marisa Coughlan, who stars on the TV series Boston Legal.)
Perfect night out: "Wine, swordfish and Marisa."
Favourite things: TV show, Boston Legal; movie, The Deer Hunter; book, 1984 ("Just because it's my birth year."); pets, "My two dogs, Walter and Willis."
Education: a graduate of St. Mary's high school, Woodstock.
Life philosophy: "I have a very simple motto, 'Whatever.' I feel like if you enter every situation expecting nothing, the outcome will always be better than you expected. Also, being an actor usually entails a lot of rejection, so having a whatever attitude works best for me."
A look at some of his film roles:
Air Bud (1997)
Stars alongside slam-dunking pooch
in the first in a series of this title.
Treasure Island (1999)
Plays Jim Hawkins opposite Jack Palance's Long John Silver in this remake.
Virginia's Run (2002)
Plays "baddy boy" Darrow Blake, the snooty rich kid in this horse-racing, family movie.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Plays an upstanding assistant to a power-hungry security guard in this zombie flick.
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