Actor Christopher Walken has the kind of distinctive voice that you would recognize even in your sleep. Thanks to the way he speaks, people love mimicking him and trying out his accent for themselves. After all, imitation is the best form of flattery, isn’t it? The voice also allows him to pull off some of the most messed up characters we have seen in the film industry.
From The Deer Hunter to King of New York, Christopher Walken’s portrayals of these characters are enough to send a chill throughout your body and leave you with goosebumps for a while. However, the actor once revealed that he was totally and completely over playing such characters and wanted to play the role of a nice family man.
Christopher Walken is Tired of Doing the Same Roles
Getting typecast in Hollywood is real, and with the uniqueness of Christopher Walken’s voice and demeanor, it became all the more difficult for the actor to pursue roles different from what he’s been doing. Even in his most recent film, Dune: Part Two, the actor plays the character of Emperor Shaddam IV, taking over yet another antagonistic role.
While Walken has worked across genres, there’s just something about him that makes him shine bright in sociopathic and sinister roles. In fact, film critic Roger Ebert once praised the actor for his “chilling ability to move between easy charm and pure evil.” He also called him, “one of the few undeniably charismatic male villains.”
However, it seems like playing similar roles again and again is taking a toll on Walken, who just wants to play a normal guy for once. Speaking with The New York Times (via Esquire), the actor stated,
“Most of the jobs I get are basically very unwholesome people. There’s always something wrong with the guy, and sometimes something deeply wrong. I’m tired of that…I want a part where I have a wife and kids and a dog and a house, and my kids say to me, ‘What do you think I should do, Dad?’ and I say, ‘Be careful.’”
Honestly, we would love to see Walken playing a role where he lives with his small but loving family in a small town!
Christopher Walken Talks about His Dune 2 Role
Recently, Walken appeared for an interview with Rolling Stone, where he talked about his role in Dune: Part 2. During the conversation, he once again expressed his desire to play a normal role. When asked if there’s still something on his to-do-list when it comes to his career, the actor replied,
“I play a lot of strange people. I’d like to play up. You know, a solid citizen, very normal guy. Normal guy, maybe a doctor.”
On his approach to playing the emperor of the galaxy, Walken stated,
“When I was young, I had to play a king in something and an older actor said to me, “You know, don’t worry about it. Let the director tell everybody to treat you like a king, and then you don’t really have to do much.” So I started counting on that, the trappings of the king and his courts. If people say you’re the king, you’re the king…
…I also remember years ago, I was in Japan on a press tour. And the Emperor was on television making a speech. And I remember he was dressed beautifully, and even though he was speaking to this enormous crowd, he spoke so softly that you had to really pay attention. And I thought, well, if you’re the Emperor, you don’t have to talk too loud. So I suppose I thought about things like that.”
If Walken continues playing such roles to perfection, it looks like it’ll be a while before he gets to fulfill his dream of portraying a normal family guy in his films!
Dune: Part Two is currently playing in theatres.
