![]() Walken’s career onscreen-with more than 100 film credits to speak of-has been defined by playing enigmatic characters who happen to resemble no one so much as Christopher Walken. But I think it might have to do with growing up around people who spoke English as a second language.” Mr. “People tell me I end a sentence before it’s finished,” he said, his bright blue gaze direct in a way that his words are not. After all, something may always get lost in translation. He’s… careful with his speech, at once casual and over-precise: at a loss for words, or maybe conveying a bigger idea in the space where they normally appear. If anything, his words seem almost too elocuted, the pauses allowing us to project something withheld, left unspoken in the black box of his mind. Walken doesn’t have the accent of an immigrant. I think maybe I talked that way.” On the weekend, he worked at his father’s bakery. I think I grew up listening to people who spoke English in a kind of broken way. Lots of Greek, Italian, Polish, German, Yiddish. “The neighborhood itself, you didn’t hear a lot of English. Walken’s mother was Scottish and his father was German both Christopher and his brothers were native New Yorkers, born and raised in Queens, where they would take the elevated train over to the city to audition for Sid Caesar’s Hour. And so did all the people that they knew, and all the people who worked in my father’s bakery.” Mr. Both my parents had accents, European accents they were pretty strong. “It has to do I think with where I come from in the city, and also the neighborhood. Walken told me in March, sitting in the solarium of the Connecticut estate he shares with his wife, former Sopranos casting director Georgianne Leigh Walken. ![]() “I guess I do have a particular way of speaking,” Mr. You know…the trailing off in the middle…without ever missing a beat…it’s hard to mistake. Along with Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino, Christopher Walken is one of those instantly recognizable impersonations, even when done poorly. Not much more is needed-even without that title card, we would have known who Mr. His tongue absently poking out to the top of his lip, his left hand dug deep in his pocket while the other rises and falls at chest level, like a jazz crooner keeping time with the drums. “Wow…” he enunciates mildly, elongating the vowel. Marquand tilting his head quizzically and staring at something offscreen. Marquand’s impressions is one of his shortest: the title card reads, “Christopher Walken realizes he’s on a Jumbotron.” The screen flashes to Mr. Marquand-who once played Paul Newman on an episode of Mad Men -has that uncanny mimic’s knack not just for nailing the way famous celebrities sound, but, as evidenced in the small absurdities of banal activities-“Michael Caine tries to open a jar for someone,” “Harrison Ford loses a sneeze,” “Al Pacino misses a straw with his mouth,” etc.-how they fill the space around their words. ![]() Or else SOMEbody… is gonna be real mad.As the sixth season of The Walking Dead wrapped up in early spring, one of the show’s character actors, 34-year-old Ross Marquand (Aaron), showed off his lighter side in a video series for Condé Nast’s The Scene, titled “ Impressions of super famous people being super mundane.” Mr. But, as Artie gets closer to the killer, each suspect is murdered and all the clues point to him. Decker (Walken) believes Artie’s story and gives him 24 hours to crack down the real killer. Despite protests from other Police officers, detective P.J. ![]() But that night she is brutally killed by a blowtorch-wielding maniac and Artie is wrongfully arrested. Suddenly, he meets Tally Fuller: the most popular and beautiful girl at Fairfield college and she finally agrees to go on a date with him. It’s been YEARS… but.”įor the record, the clip is from a direct-to-video thriller called All American Murder, released in 1991.Īrtie Logan (Schlatter) is the new guy on Campus. Licking his lips like he’s chewing invisible gum.Looking around between words to add gravitas.Excessive emphasis on certain words and phrases, seemingly chosen at random.Complete disregard for any and all punctuation.Even on paper, the scene is breathtaking in its Walkenness, but it’s Walken’s acting that really gives it the Walken touch. After making an epic entrance in a steadicam shot (“Eh, I’m Walken here!”), his hair blow dried and erect like a million tiny priapisms, Walken moseys into the scene like a leather-coated John Wayne, grabs the bullhorn, and tells the bad guy in vivid detail about the blow job Walken got from the guy’s wife. Everyone working on a Christopher Walken impression should study this clip. Nonetheless, it was news to me, and it is magnificent. This scene comes from a movie that came out in 1991, and the YouTube clip is from 2010 with 200K views, so save the “this is old” comments, brosephs and brosephines, your point has been conceded.
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