Last spring, people in central Kentucky were all upset at the thought of running into Katy Perry. The pop superstar temporarily lived here while her husband Orlando Bloom was filming a movie.
CELEBRITIES IN KENTUCKY
I remember this Facebook post from a viewer who thinks she spotted it:
Then there is the TV icon and star trekof Captain Kirk, William Shatner, who lived on a farm in Versailles until he lost her in a divorce. Neither he nor Katy calls Kentucky home anymore.
KENTUCKY ISN’T EXACTLY CREEPY WITH A-LISTERS IN RESIDENCE
In some states it’s pretty easy to meet celebrities – California and Tennessee come to mind – but that’s not the case in Kentucky. Oh sure, we’ve heard a number of stories about Johnny Depp showing up to Owensboro for this or that reason, but none of those visits have ever been substantiated.
…UNLESS YOU COUNT THIS VETERAN ACTOR
However, if you are in the Georgetown KY area, you could very well meet an actor who has been working hard for almost three decades, is not one of the biggest names in the industry (although he is very good at what he does), and who just landed his first-ever Emmy nomination for the HBO Max series The White Lotus. In fact, it was his first acting appointment of any kind. If you haven’t seen it, you may have seen Steve Zahn in this 90s film about the twenties. This is the first time I remember seeing it:
STEVE ZAHN – LONGTIME RESIDENT OF KENTUCKY
Yes, Zahn is a resident of Georgetown – he and his wife own a farm there – and, by all accounts, he loves it. Well, for one thing, they’ve been in the Commonwealth for a long time; in a 2017 interview with Vulture, he mentioned his farm and that he and his wife, Robyn, had lived here for 13 years. They are installed.
Here’s what he told Tara Brady of the Irish Times in 2021:
I have never been a slacker. I live on a farm. You’re waking up. Period. Horses and dogs don’t care if it’s Christmas. I get up at 5:30 a.m. and go to bed at 9:30 p.m. I am that guy. I only use an alarm when I’m working on a film. And that’s for waking up later.
STEVE ZAHN – BIG UK FAN
In 2007, Zahn received an honorary doctorate from Northern Kentucky University, but is a BIG fan of University of Kentucky sports. You may have seen him being “Y” during a basketball game between the United Kingdom and Alabama in 2014.
Or maybe you saw him “fill in” Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello’s lookalike.
Guess if you hang around the Lexington/Georgetown area long enough you’ll come across Steve Zahn. He seems to be an affable boy, quite approachable. And he looks like a Kentuckian through and through.
Not bad for a guy from Marshall, Minnesota.
27 Kentucky Celebrities Who Aren’t Country Musicians
We could have a whole ANOTHER list of Kentucky country stars — and athletes, for that matter. But how many of THESE celebrities did you know were from the Bluegrass State?
I bet you didn’t know these celebrities were Kentucky Colonels
13 movies that were filmed in Kentucky
Kentucky hasn’t been ignored by Hollywood when it comes to the use of filming locations. But there could always be more, right?
