The “most interesting” movie character of all time, according to Christopher Walken
Good actors find inspiration everywhere, even in the strangest of places that you wouldn’t expect. Just look at Christopher Walken, who cites a certain animated character as one of his biggest influences.
The actor has lived a wild life, even taming lions at one point, but once he found real success on the silver screen in the 1970s, there was no turning back… 1978’s The Deer Hunter proved to be a monumental moment in Walken’s career, with the star taking home an Oscar for his performance – in a way, this was truly the beginning for the actor, who’d go on to become one of the most reliable character actors of all time.
He went on to appear in everything from Pulp Fiction to Severance, picking up another Oscar nomination for Catch Me If You Can on the way. But what many people don’t know is that Walken often channels Bugs Bunny when he’s acting – although he has never revealed which projects in particular have been inspired by the beloved carrot-munching cartoon.
“[Walken] said that Bugs Bunny is one of his favourite actors ever,” Ben Stiller once said on the Severance podcast. “And he was saying this kind of [thing] 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.”
The actor truly adores the character, who was first introduced in the late 1930s, although his first official appearance came in 1940 with a role in the short film A Wild Hare. Bugs has since become a beloved part of American pop culture, and he has long enamoured Walken, who calls him “the most interesting” character of all time.
Reflecting on his approach to acting and how Bugs inspires him, Walken told the Los Angeles Times, “The way I do that is I read the script with an Italian accent, I read it like a certain kind of actor, I’ll read it like Marlon Brando, I’ll read it like Pee-wee Herman, I’ll read it like Billy Crystal – I’ll very often try to get Woody Allen’s rhythms.
“One of my favourites – this is going to sound strange – but I think Bugs Bunny is one of the most interesting movie characters of all time. His rhythms, his intelligence, his attitude is very amazing. So I’ll sometimes do the part like Bugs,” he concluded.
It might seem strange, but inspiration really can strike from the most unexpected of places, even that of an animated rabbit. With his Brooklyn accent, often spouting the catchphrase “Eh…what’s up Doc?”, it actually makes perfect sense that Walken would find the character strangely influential.
I mean, it takes a really good actor to look at someone like Bugs Bunny and identify the intricacies within his characterisation and his performance (he was initially voiced by Mel Blanc) and apply that to a range of much more serious roles. Clearly, Walken knows how to adapt his influences to suit his own characters, which is why he has been able to prosper for so long in the industry.
