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 You may not know who CHRISTOPH WALTZ is yet, but his performance as the articulate, suave and vicious Colonel Hans Landa – ‘The Jew Hunter’ – in Quentin Tarantino’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS will stay with you for a long time. ALASDAIR DUNCAN was thrilled at the chance to speak to the actor before the film’s premiere.
ALASADIR DUNCAN: Inglourious Basterds represents a playful take on serious subject matter – does this sense of playfulness reflect your experience on set?
CHRISTOPH WALTZ: Yes, it was playful. You know what that word means when you watch children play – they play with all the seriousness they can muster. The game might not be serious, but the playing always is. The same was true when it came to working on this movie. We were playing these things but we treated them with all seriousness and honesty.
AD: I’ve heard you say before that you don’t consider it the job of cinema to be didactic, and Inglourious Basterds is certainly anything but ...
CW: You’re absolutely right. Quentin understands movies maybe better than anyone else. Quentin has a wider knowledge, theoretical and practical, than one could imagine. That aspect of narrative turning into a reality is something extremely attractive in movies in general, but in a context like this, even more so. All that is an issue there, so viewed from that angle, the alternative narrative of this historical episode comes together and makes perfect sense.
 AD: It makes sense emotionally, if not factually ...
CW: Yes, exactly. I was asked once in Germany how I felt about Quentin Tarantino rewriting history, and I had a hard time refraining from cursing. What are we worried about – that history can be undone through a movie? The fantasy this movie presents doesn’t come out of ignorance, it comes out of knowledge of the historical fact.
AD: Colonel Landa is such an amazingly-realised character – I’m wondering, did you have a great deal of influence in shaping him?
CW: Quentin was the author, therefore the original creator of this character. He presented me with Landa, almost confronted me with him. I don’t support the philosophy of acting that says you need to add your own bits on top of the character – I’m all for finding out what the author wanted. I read the script.
AD: When you won your Best Actor award in Cannes, you thanked Quentin for giving you back your vocation as an actor – what did you mean by that?
CW: Quentin said I had given him his movie back, and that was my direct answer. I’ve been an actor for a very long time, and not everything is always so swell, you do things you never figured you’d be doing when you set out. Working with Quentin reminded me that it might not have been in vain after all to have become an actor.
AD: Basterds could well make you a star in America –have any doors started opening there?
CW: Let’s have it in the theatres first, and then go from there. That’s where not being 25 any more comes in handy – I’ve seen a few things over time, and one thing I’ve learned is to maintain my healthy scepticism and be patient.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is in cinemas now, rated [MA15+]. www.inglouriousbasterds-movie.com
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