Why Christoph Waltz can no longer watch Marlon Brando performances: “I cringe”
Before Christoph Waltz made his Hollywood breakthrough in 2009 with a stellar performance in Quentin Tarantino’s World War II movie Inglorious Basterds, he had been working in Europe as a stage and television actor, following a brief spell in New York City, training under the tutelage of Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.
But it’s been in America where the German-Austrian actor has made the biggest impression, mostly in supporting roles. He’s been featured in another Tarantino movie, Django Unchained, as well as Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, and gave one of his best performances as the James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre and No Time to Die.
Waltz has certainly enjoyed one hell of a career in the film industry, and when he was working in Europe in his early days, there was one actor he wanted to emulate. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Waltz admitted to being somewhat “embarrassed” by his obsession with Marlon Brando.
“I’m kind of embarrassed. When I was about 20, I thought Marlon Brando was the greatest thing ever,” he said. However, even though there was clear admiration for Brando, widely considered one of the best actors of all time, Waltz said that he could no longer watch the kind of Brando performances he once loved so much.
“Well, hold your applause for a second because now, most of the stuff that Marlon Brando did, I can’t watch. I cringe,” he said. There is still one Brando effort that Waltz can make his way through, though, which is one of the actor’s undoubted best moments on screen.
Waltz has a point when it comes to his change in opinion of Brando, though, and it largely came through his own development as an actor. “My point is, not only does your point of reference shift with your development, the actor whom you choose to be your point of reference does not always do great work,” he said. “Your admiration should never turn into an ideology.”
Brando was certainly one of the biggest movie stars of all time but Waltz highlighted the distinction between star appeal and acting quality. “I am convinced that acting and being a star are two different professions. You can be an actor who is always true to himself, true to the work, true to the writer. Others who are reckless and irresponsible become stars. They don’t become stars for their work.” And perhaps Brando became just that, at least in Waltz’s eyes.
