Everybody knows Christopher Walken, right? I mean, who. Doesn't. Remember. The stilted speech? The sporadic infle-e-ections. The somewhat vacant look, like his mind is always on vacation even though his body is here and of course - the piercing stare.
There's no doubt that he's a strange character. This comes out in every one of his roles including; The Deer Hunter (for which he won an Oscar), Catch Me If You Can (for which he was Oscar nominated) and let us not forget Pulp Fiction. To be honest, I've always held a certain fascination for the guy. Did you know he was trained in classical dance? I first noticed him (and some of you young 'uns may not remember this) in one of Fatboy Slim's videos, called 'Weapon "of Choice'. This was back in the early-to-mid nineties, soon after MTV came to India. Check it out, when you get a chance. 
Then of course, were all his appearances on Saturday Night Live. Especially, the 'Cowbell' sketch, now of legendary status. There are literally tons of parodies paying homage to the original sketch (which, ironically, is itself a parody) on YouTube, even though the original was removed for copyright reasons. The sketch even has it's own Wikipedia page, for God's sake. Why it's become so famous is completely beyond me. Don't get me wrong, I think it's hilarious but ultimately, just another SNL sketch. If you live on Mars, here's your chance to see it now.
Anyhow, I digress. Getting back to Christopher Walken, the whole reason for this post - I was listening to a newly discovered podcast (called NPR Pop Culture - which I highly recommend, by the way) and they started talking about a show in LA called All About Walken. It consists of is eight actors impersonating Walken in various roles, both real and fictitious. For instance, they have one actor singing 'These Boots Are Made For Walken', Walken-style,others re-enact a scene from Annie Hall as well as some of his other famous film roles.
Article comments