Steve Zahn's Daughter Audrey Reveals the Honest Advice He Gave Her About Acting (Exclusive)

Julie JordanFri, March 27, 2026 at 10:00 PM UTC

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Steve and Audrey ZahnCredit: Theo Wargo/Getty -

Steve Zahn and his daughter Audrey talk to PEOPLE about filming their new dramedy, She Dances, together

"Audrey and I are extremely tight," he says of his relationship with his daughter

She Dances is now in theaters

Steve Zahn says he knew his daughter Audrey was a good actress, "but I didn't know she was great," he tells PEOPLE.

Now starring alongside each other as father and daughter in the new dramedy She Dances, the two are winning rave reviews for their performances. Steve, 58, who shares Audrey, 23, with his wife, bestselling author Robyn Peterman, plays a reluctant dad chaperoning his daughter to a dance competition and trying to reconnect with her after a family tragedy.

Audrey and Steve star in She DancesCredit: EKKL Entertainment

The idea for the movie emerged after one of Audrey's own dance competitions in 2021 at the Gaylord Hotel in Nasvhille. "Her mom couldn't come, so it was just me and her and we had a blast," he recalls. "Just experiencing that place. It was funny. It was absurd. It was so many things, and I kept calling my partner and friend, Rick Gomez, who directed the film, and tell him stories, and we'd send him pictures and videos. He was like, 'Dude, there's a movie here.'"

Zahn says they knew they needed "an obstacle" to make the story work. "And that became a family dealing with grief." After they wrote the screenplay, "we knew that there was only one person that could play the lead, and that was Audrey."

Once she read the script, "I cried my eyes out and then went for a really long walk," Audrey says. "But I loved it, and then now here we are, which is really crazy. It's been a long time."

Steve and Audrey ZahnCredit: Manny Carabel/Getty

While the production only took 21 days to shoot, Steve and Audrey most relished rehearsing together. "No one has any more," Steve says, laughing. "Out loud. I got really comfortable." Adds Audrey: "I visited dad when he was in London doing Silo, and we would just sit down and read the script once a day, every day."

Despite playing a father and daughter with a complicated relationship, the two, who are very close, insist they had no trepidation taking on the roles. "One of the hurdles with working with other people is that trust factor, and the ability to sit with someone and be really comfortable, be raw, be ugly, and be whatever, right?" Steve says.

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Credit: EKKL Entertainment

"Audrey and I are extremely tight. I mean, there are father/daughters that aren't. She FaceTimed me this morning, we talk every day. So we could go to another level, and that's where the rehearsal was really important. It wasn't about us connecting. It was more about, how do we make these scenes work?"

When Audrey first decided to pursue acting, Zahn was supportive out of the gate. "When I saw her in a play in high school, I remember turning to Robyn and going, 'I think she's a better actor than she is dancer.' That says a lot, because she's a pretty accomplished dancer, so I knew," he says.

"Then, she auditions and she gets into this amazing conservatory, and she goes and works, and it's the grind and the patience, and all you do is collect nos. That's what you do. She's collecting nos right now. You know how many nos I collected in New York in the early '90s? I mean, my God. It was insane. I got close on every single job, and it was really trying and hard, and it's that kind of thing that you worry about. I knew she had talent, and then it's how you grow."

Audrey admits the best advice her dad gave her about acting was very honest—and real: "Over-prepare, show up early, don't be a d--k," she says with a laugh. As for following in her father's footsteps, Audrey says she's "so proud of him. Everybody knows my dad is good. He's one of the greats," she adds. "Dad taught me everything I know. I'm proud to be associated with him. I like when people compare us."

While Audrey is also starring in her first major television role in the Apple TV series Imperfect Women with Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington, she and her dad would love to work together again, sooner rather than later. "I have to do a western," says Steve.

"That would be cool," says Audrey. "I just want to do a really awkward comedy." Adds her dad with a laugh: "A crazy comedy Western."

She Dances is now playing in theaters.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”