Christoph Waltz

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Birthday:

4 October 1956, Vienna, Austria

Height:

170 cm

Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is known for his works with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving acclaim for portraying SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, he won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa.Christoph Waltz was born in Vienna, Austria, to Elisabeth Urbancic, an Austrian-born costume designer, and Johannes Waltz, a German-born stage builder. He has three siblings. He was born into a theater family, as his maternal grandmother was Viennese Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was fellow Burgtheater actor Emmerich Reimers. His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychologist and psychiatrist who wrote the 1949 book "Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness".Waltz attended the Theresianium and Billrothstrasse in Vienna. Upon graduation, he attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar before going to New York to the Lee Strasberg Institute. While in New York, Christoph met his first wife, and moved back to Vienna, then to London.During the 80s, Christoph worked primarily in theater, commuting from his home in London to Germany. Slowly he began to work in TV, taking one-off roles on series, and TV movies. Film roles soon followed, however, attempts to break into English-speaking film and TV were unsuccessful. Christoph has stated he is grateful to have made a living and supported his family through acting. For thirty years he worked steadily, tirelessly, in this manner.It was not until he met Quentin Tarantino that his career in Hollywood took off. The role of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) catapulted Christoph from a lifetime working in German TV/film to the new life of an international superstar and Academy Award-winning actor. He won 27 awards for his performance as Hans Landa, including the Cannes prix d'interpretation Masculin for 2009, the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, the BAFTA Best Supporting Actor award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (which he won again for 2012's Django Unchained (2012)).He also portrayed computer genius Qohen Leth in the film The Zero Theorem (2013), American plagiarist Walter Keane in the biographical film _Big Eyes (2014), and 007's nemesis and head of SPECTRE Ernst Stavro Blofeld in _Spectre (2015)_. In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual - but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous. Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011). That same year, he starred in Water for Elephants (2011), Roman Polanski's Carnage (2011), and a remake of The Three Musketeers (2011). He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz.Christoph resides in Berlin and Los Angeles. His wife is costume builder Judith Holste. Show less «

[on working in Hollywood] In Europe, everybody would say, "Well, they just want to squeeze you like a lemon." Well, yeah! But, you know, if ...Show more »

[on working in Hollywood] In Europe, everybody would say, "Well, they just want to squeeze you like a lemon." Well, yeah! But, you know, if I have the juice, why shouldn't they? Show less «

[on being typecast] Nobody's talking about that. I get interest coming my way from many different directions. I'd hate to pigeon-hole myself...Show more »

[on being typecast] Nobody's talking about that. I get interest coming my way from many different directions. I'd hate to pigeon-hole myself. The variety is what's interesting. Show less «

I know what I can contribute. And that's a very limited, very specific unit, whether it's a big movie, a small movie, a German movie, an Ame...Show more »

I know what I can contribute. And that's a very limited, very specific unit, whether it's a big movie, a small movie, a German movie, an American movie. That's the advantage I have over a 25-year-old. I've had the chance to understand what it is I do. Show less «

The one advantage of having grown up in the business is that you don't romanticize it. "Oh, isn't it wonderful?" Blah, blah, blah. No, it is...Show more »

The one advantage of having grown up in the business is that you don't romanticize it. "Oh, isn't it wonderful?" Blah, blah, blah. No, it isn't! I've never romanticized it. But on the other hand, the conviction, the dedication that you see here, is tremendous. It would be awful if the whole business consisted of grouchy farts like me. Show less «

[on advice a dog trainer once gave him that can apply to him as well] The better the dog, the busier you have to keep him. I'm arrogant and ...Show more »

[on advice a dog trainer once gave him that can apply to him as well] The better the dog, the busier you have to keep him. I'm arrogant and blase enough to consider myself a very good dog. You take pride in what you're doing, in your craft, and all of that, but -- I wouldn't say I resigned myself to mediocrity, not at all, but I started to accept that there might be an ideal you strive for (and) never realize. Show less «

[on the toughest aspect of preparing for Inglourious Basterds (2009)] To put aside what I know about the topic. Because it was irrelevant. G...Show more »

[on the toughest aspect of preparing for Inglourious Basterds (2009)] To put aside what I know about the topic. Because it was irrelevant. Growing up in that area, you don't hear much about the French Revolution or the Egyptians or the Seven Year War. You hear about the Nazi era. But it was irrelevant to the part and unnecessary and would have been a bad obstacle. Show less «

It's frustrating. Even though I agree with all of you [other actors being interviewed], I have a less romantic and idealistic approach to ac...Show more »

It's frustrating. Even though I agree with all of you [other actors being interviewed], I have a less romantic and idealistic approach to acting. Over there [Germany], the business is based on mediocrity. On a high level, admittedly, but mediocrity. You reach a certain level, beyond which you will not go. Not just in career but in challenges and opportunity. It's interesting for the specific issue of how to cope with an actor's life. To lead an actor's life. What do you do if you have a stretch of five years where you only get mediocre offers and nothing to sink your teeth into? That's where it is difficult. Becoming an actor is one thing. Being an actor is entirely different. Show less «

It's the result that makes the art, not necessarily the process that leads to it. So when Hilary plays Bach, that's the music (but) what you...Show more »

It's the result that makes the art, not necessarily the process that leads to it. So when Hilary plays Bach, that's the music (but) what you perceive is the art. Is she considering herself as an artist? I don't think so. I think she just puts herself into the craft, into each individual note and ties them together in order to arrive at what the emotion might be. That's one of the biggest problems with the actor. The piece of art -- the person, the performance, everything that leads up to it -- is so difficult to separate from each other. Show less «

[his Oscar acceptance speech for Inglourious Basterds (2009)] Oscar and Penélope [Cruz], that's an Ã¼ber bingo! I always wanted to discov...Show more »

[his Oscar acceptance speech for Inglourious Basterds (2009)] Oscar and Penélope [Cruz], that's an Ã¼ber bingo! I always wanted to discover some new continent and I thought I had to go this way, and then I was introduced to Quentin Tarantino, who was putting together an expedition that was equipped by Harvey Weinstein and Lawrence Bender and David Linde, and he put this script in front of me and he said, "This is where we're going, but we're going the other way." So Brad Pitt helped me on board and Diane Kruger was there Mélanie Laurent and Denis Ménochet and Bob Richardson and Sally Menke and Adam Schweitzer and Lisa Kasteler. Everybody helped me find a place. Universal and The Weinstein Company and ICM and Quentin, with his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer, took this ship across and brought it in with flying colours and that's why I'm here. And this is your welcoming embrace and there's no way I can ever thank you enough, but I can start right now. Thank you. Show less «

Becoming an actor is like becoming a father. It's not hard to become one. Making a life of it is the challenge.

If the advice to 'get out' is too late, then my advice would always be read, go to museums, go to concerts. Don't learn life from movies or ...Show more »

If the advice to 'get out' is too late, then my advice would always be read, go to museums, go to concerts. Don't learn life from movies or television. Show less «

[on comedy] As long as you take it seriously, you can do it. But in a movie, because comedy is so much timing and rhythm, all of that is mos...Show more »

[on comedy] As long as you take it seriously, you can do it. But in a movie, because comedy is so much timing and rhythm, all of that is most established in editing. I can say a complete straight sentence, just neutral and straight, and a good editor can turn it into a funny or sad thing. Because that's the beauty of movies, nothing works in itself. Show less «

[on waiting 30 years to become an overnight success] That was my experience, and it was very frustrating. These false dawns went on for a lo...Show more »

[on waiting 30 years to become an overnight success] That was my experience, and it was very frustrating. These false dawns went on for a long time. It feels like someone keeps trying to switch the light on, but the dimmer switch is broken. And then sometimes the bulb blows altogether. Show less «

[on being a private person] When I was 25, that's when this whole thing got started. My oldest daughter was a little kid. A tabloid reporter...Show more »

[on being a private person] When I was 25, that's when this whole thing got started. My oldest daughter was a little kid. A tabloid reporter called my house. He said, "I hear a child crying. Is it a boy or a girl? What's their name?". I said "I want to keep that private." He said "It's not private." Thats when I decided I didn't want other people to decide what I disclose. Show less «

[on Bill Murray ] He was just the nicest guy, he gave me the biggest tips [while Waltz was working as a waiter]. And now I know him: not lik...Show more »

[on Bill Murray ] He was just the nicest guy, he gave me the biggest tips [while Waltz was working as a waiter]. And now I know him: not like as a close friend, but I know him. I really like how he handles privacy. But then Bill Murray is a radical...I'm not a radical. I'm just a smart-ass. Show less «

[on fame] As a motivation in itself, celebrity is foolhardy and stupid.

I do feel I can say - without smugness - that it feels good. I am entitled. I am entitled to judge the situation and say that yes: It feels ...Show more »

I do feel I can say - without smugness - that it feels good. I am entitled. I am entitled to judge the situation and say that yes: It feels good, and that yes, I agree with you. I feel like I served my time. I feel like I paid [my dues]. Show less «

It would be completely laughable if I claimed I was always motivated by the pure craft of acting and that recognition doesn't play a part. O...Show more »

It would be completely laughable if I claimed I was always motivated by the pure craft of acting and that recognition doesn't play a part. Of course it does - that's human nature. The bohemian artist who exists only for his art, it's a myth. Show less «