Born in 1984, Kevin Zegers was a child star well known for the Air Bud series, about a basketball-playing dog; and Treasure Island, where he played Jim Hawkins to Jack Palance's scary Long John Silver.
Nico the Unicorn (1998) is not a heroic fantasy, as the title suggests, but about a oddball outsider boy, crippled when his leg was shattered by a drunk driver, whose horse gives birth to a unicorn.
He took his shirt off in Komodo, 1999, beginning a long beefcake career.
He impressed one fan so much that they devoted a website to him, back in the 2000s when such things were uncommon. There were hundreds of pictures, and article on topics like "Kevin's Biceps."
During the 2000s, Kevin moved easily between lighthearted child fare, like the contining Air Bud series, and teens having troubled lives or meeting monsters. In Four Days, 1999. a bank heist goes wrong; in Sex, Lies, & Obsession, 2001, his dad has a sex addiction. Wrong Turn, 2003, is a teenkill. Dawn of the Dead, 2004, is about zombies; The Hollow, 2004, is about the Headless Horseman.
Kevin's big social-commentary movie was Transamerica, 2005. He played Toby, a teenage drug dealer and hustler. After his mother commits suicide, he takes a road trip with a "Christian missionary" who turns out to be a trans woman Bree.
He tries to seduce her, with a butt shot, whereupon she reveals that she is his biological father. They have some rough times, but the movie ends happily with Toby working in gay porn and reconciling with Bree.
Teen magazines gushed, and shirtless photos began to bounce around the internet.
He impressed one fan so much that they devoted a website to him, back in the 2000s when such things were uncommon. There were hundreds of pictures, and article on topics like "Kevin's Biceps."
Wait, it's still there. This photo illustrates an article telling us that at age 14, Kevin could bench press 200 pounds. If true, that is quite impressive: the average for a 14 year old is 65 pounds.
During the 2000s, Kevin moved easily between lighthearted child fare, like the contining Air Bud series, and teens having troubled lives or meeting monsters. In Four Days, 1999. a bank heist goes wrong; in Sex, Lies, & Obsession, 2001, his dad has a sex addiction. Wrong Turn, 2003, is a teenkill. Dawn of the Dead, 2004, is about zombies; The Hollow, 2004, is about the Headless Horseman.
But he managed to take his shirt and pants off in almost everything, such as when sex with his girlfriend made him sick on an episode of House MD.
Kevin's big social-commentary movie was Transamerica, 2005. He played Toby, a teenage drug dealer and hustler. After his mother commits suicide, he takes a road trip with a "Christian missionary" who turns out to be a trans woman Bree.
He tries to seduce her, with a butt shot, whereupon she reveals that she is his biological father. They have some rough times, but the movie ends happily with Toby working in gay porn and reconciling with Bree.
Today most trans people dislike it: "absolutely horrible from beginning to end"; Bree "reinforces just about every single worst stereotype about trans people." But in 2005, it was lauded for its "sensitive" portrayal of gay and trans people.
More after the break
