Kevin Zegers: Teen Idol without a Girlfriend

One of the last of the old-style teen idols, Kevin Zegers was born in Canada in 1984, and did some modeling, tv commercials, and guest roles as "kid" before hitting adolescence.  Then he achieved something amazing: an entire teen idol career with no tongue-lolling, swooning, girl-crazy hetero-horny roles.

 His first fame came in the Disney fantasy Air Bud (1997), about a oddball outsider boy whose dog plays basketball. There were sequels in 1998, 2001, and 2002, with the dog playing football, soccer, and baseball, respectively. Not a lot of heterosexual machinations, even in the 2002 version with Josh (Kevin) away in college and his little sister taking over.

After that, Kevin was the toast of the town, but he continued to play "queer" oddball outsider roles with little or no interest in girls, as in Shadow Builder (1998), about a boy who may be a saint or may portend the end of the world.

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.

Treasure Island (1999) is, of course, famous for having no women; it's a testosterone-laced buddy-bonding pirate adventure.

Not until Komodo (1999) does one of Kevin's characters get a girlfriend.

Even Four Days (1999) is more about buddy-bonding than hetero-romance, as The Kid becomes the unwitting pawn in his father's bank heist.


As Kevin bulked up, his shirtless and underwear scenes became more common.  His phyique was plastered all over teen magazines.  Fan websites gushed "Do you know how strong Kevin is???  He can lift 200 pounds right over his head!!!" and offered separate series of photos of his biceps, shoulders, chest, abs, and legs.  Maybe this obsessive display of his muscles was a counterbalance to the lack of displayed heterosexual interest in his movies and tv guest spots.

Time Share (2000) gives Kevin's character a girlfriend, but in MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000), he just has a younger sister.

Fear of the Dark (2003) is about an older brother and younger brother.

In adulthood, Kevin went on to play many gay-vague and "gay turned to straight" roles.

See: Kevin Zegers, Former Teen Idol