"I like being the sidekick," says Steve Zahn, a much-admired star whose supporting roles in "You've Got Mail," "Happy, Texas" and "Safe Men" helped create his niche in films as a slightly glazed, easily excitable second banana. "I'm proud of being a character actor."

Well, that was easy. On my way to meet Zahn, 36, at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, I had resolved to be delicate about his status as the go-to guy for groggy best-friend or chummy associate parts, as well as the occasional, wigged-out reprobate ("Out of Sight," "Driving in Cars with Boys"). Some actors chafe at the suggestion, intended or not, that they can only play certain roles.

But he beats me to the subject, delighted with his fortunes as a constantly working, recognizable performer who has been directed by the likes of Tom Hanks, Steven Soderbergh and Richard Linklater.

"I don't want to be a leading man," Zahn says. "Unless it's the way Dustin Hoffman made leading men out of character parts."

Zahn is particularly high on his role as Matthew McConaughey's partner in the James Bond-like adventure "Sahara," which opens in theaters Friday. Based on best-selling author Clive Cussler's novel, "Sahara" co-stars Penelope Cruz as a scientist investigating an epidemic in North Africa and partnering with a pair of treasure hunters.

Zahn plays heroic goof Al Giordino and McConaughey is Cussler's resourceful hero, Dirk Pitt, last seen on screen (played by Richard Jordan) in 1980's "Raise the Titanic."

Zooming on camels

"I was ecstatic at the idea of working on a film of this scale," says Zahn. "Every day, the set would be in the middle of nowhere, and we were a big moving city with tanks and trucks and a thousand people to feed. At the same time, I had to do my job, which is to contradict the serious tone with comic relief.

"Usually I do that in scenes shot in a restaurant in Chicago. It was fun doing it in a turban while on the back of a camel among sand dunes."

Zahn says he and McConaughey (who lobbied Zahn to take the part of Giordino in "a colorful, poetic, typically Matthew letter") and Cruz did most of their stunts.

That included riding camels at 35 mph while dangerously close to a moving train.

"I ride horses on my farm in Kentucky," says Zahn. "But I had to learn to steer a camel with my foot on its neck."

Leaving the stage behind

Raised in Minnesota by "progressive parents," Zahn began thinking about an acting career in college. He was happy training in New York and playing various parts on stage. Film opportunities came along, and he hasn't been in a play since 1994.

"I have two kids," says Zahn. "Your decisions and choices change. At some point, it's not about you anymore. It's about family and being at home during certain times."

Zahn regards getting cast in Hanks' 1996 "That Thing You Do!" as the "pivotal moment" in his career.

"I was up for the Matt Damon part in 'Courage Under Fire,' " says Zahn. "I wanted that so bad. I was devastated when I got word that I didn't get it. I went outside to chop wood, and my wife said Tom Hanks was on the phone. He took me under his wing, taught me a lot about film, about watching the monitor, knowing when the camera was doing something."

Next up for Zahn is "Bandidas," starring Cruz and Salma Hayek as bank robbers. In the works is a rare lead in Werner Herzog's feature version of his 1997 documentary, "Little Dieter Needs to Fly."

"I don't have a plan for my career," says Zahn. "As long as you keep working, it will evolve on its own."

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com