How Bugs Bunny became Christopher Walken’s greatest inspiration: “Nobody knew”
Every actor has their acting hero, someone who first appeared in front of them on a cinema screen, insurmountable as they dominated the width of the dimly-lit room, the smell of popcorn creeping up their nostrils and the slurping of straws becoming part of the film’s soundtrack. Larger than life, these influences come to leave an indelible stamp on a budding actor’s brain, showing them the endless possibilities of art.
For Marlon Brando, it was Paul Muni who stood out as his acting hero. For Robert De Niro, it was Brando. For Leonardo DiCaprio, it was De Niro. For Christopher Walken, it was Bugs Bunny.
Created back in the 1930s, we all know that suspiciously human grey-coloured bunny, with his penchant for carrots and throwing around his signature catchphrase, “Eh…what’s up Doc?”, in his Brooklyn accent. Voiced by Mel Blanc for many decades, the Looney Tunes character was a staple part of many people’s childhoods, and it seems as though Walken was one of many children who excitedly tuned in to watch the rabbit’s (mis)adventures.
Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, Walken likely watched a lot of Bugs Bunny, who was incredibly popular during this period. He appeared in short cartoons, comics, and movies – Americans really couldn’t get enough of him, Bugs was everywhere.
As a result of watching lots of Looney Tunes, Walken found himself inspired by Bugs Bunny, who is sometimes a bit of a prankster, although he has a good nature at heart. Due to his joyful and witty sensibility, people fell in love with the character, and it’s not hard to see why Walken kept the character in the back of his mind when preparing to play various characters with a similar laid-back yet sharply comedic persona.
The characters whom he chose to channel Bugs Bunny for remains a mystery, however, with actor Ben Stiller explaining (via Severance Podcast), “It was like right after we put the microphones away, we were talking still about acting and how, sometimes, nobody knows what you’re thinking as an actor, but they just see you thinking. And that thought is what reads, and the audience kind of fills it in. It makes it feel real because they’re actually thinking about something.
“[Walken] said that Bugs Bunny is one of his favorite actors ever. And he was saying this kind of with a twinkle in his eye, but not really. And he said, ‘A lot of times I’ve played roles as if I was Bugs Bunny, but nobody knew.’ Now, which character, which movie, we don’t know.”
Walken has made a very successful career for himself from channelling Bugs Bunny, we must admit, with the star appearing in everything from Pulp Fiction and The Deer Hunter to Hairspray and Dune: Part Two. He even delivered a flawless dance performance in Fatboy Slim’s ‘Weapon of Choice’, one of the most iconic music videos ever made. The man has range.
While Walken has also admitted to being inspired by actors like De Niro in the past – which stars haven’t? – it’s Bugs Bunny that remains his biggest inspiration, and we can hardly argue with that. Walken remains one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, even if he looked for inspiration in an unconventional place to get there.
