| Larry Zoolander | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Gender |
Male |
|
Film |
|
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Protrayed by |
Jon Voight |
|
Family |
Mrs. Zoolander (wife; deceased) |
Larry Zoolander is the father of Derek, Luke and Scrappy.
He was portrayed by Jon Voight, who also played Bill Biscane / Kane (Baby) in Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2, Patrick Gates in National Treasure, Marion Sevillo in Holes, Defense Secretary John Keller in Transformers, Howard Cosell in Ali, Lord Richard Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Adolph Rupp in Glory Road, Principal Dimly in Bratz, and Tom Jordan in The Manchurian Candidate.
History[]
Larry is a coal miner who presumably works and lives in a backwater mining town along with his two sons, Luke and Scrappy. His wife died prior to the events of the film, and Larry later remarks that he is grateful his bride passed before his youngest son, Derek, got a career in modeling. He does not approve of Derek's modeling, likely because it is not macho like his line of work.
At one point, Derek has been disheartened by losing an award to Hansel and the death of three of his friends. He announces his retirement from male modeling and returns to the mining town to go into his father's line of work, where he gets a job in the coal mine working alongside his father and brothers. Although Derek has made an attempt to find common ground with his family, his strained relationship with his father continues. Much of the tension has to do with fresh memories of Derek's modeling. One day when Mr. Zoolander knocks off work along with his sons Scrappy and Luke, they go with Derek to a bar called the Mine Shaft for a beer. Derek says working at the coal mine is not good for one's health, to which Mr. Zoolander says try it for thirty years as he has been doing. When a televised football game at the bar breaks, a commercial for Aveda is shown, which features Derek as a merman. The grizzled men in the bar notice Derek was the one who starred in that commercial, and laugh uproariously. Embarassed by Derek (albeit indirectly), Larry says Derek has shamed the name of Zoolander. This causes Derek to run back to the fashion world, which is the only business he knew.
Much later in the film, when Mugatu attempts to murder the Prime Minister of Malaysia, the attempt is thwarted by Derek. The televised event is seen by many, including Larry at the Mine Shaft. He proudly tells all the other men, "That is my boy!", expressing pride for Derek's heroism. It could be later assumed he was now on good terms with Derek, and is happy to be a grandfather to Derek and Darlene Zoolander.