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Notable performances
In the opening credits Walken is listed under the tag 'introducing', although he had already appeared on television, in an experimental film Me and My Brother (1969) and extensively in the theatre. Here he plays a small role opposite Sean Connery in what is essentially a heist movie with a nod towards seventies preoccupations with social surveillance. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet.
Aka The Happiness Cage or The Demon Within. This is the first film in which Walken played the starring role. He plays a borderline sociopathic American soldier, Private James Reese, stationed in Germany, in a science fiction film which deals with mind control (through cerebral stimulus implants) and normalisation - themes very much in the air at the time the film was made. Walken puts in a solid and watcheable performance, producing some of his characteristic trademarks of menace and stillness. His youthful appearance is quite striking for those used to seeing him as an older actor.
This Oscar winning film directed by Woody Allen is often cited by Walken and others as the first film that brought the actor and his unusual qualities to the attention of the mainstream viewing public. In a lightning appearance, he plays the strange and suicidally fixated brother of Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) providing the opportunity for a couple of fine comic reactions from Woody Allen.
Walken won an Oscar for best supporting actor with his performance in this controversial film. He plays Nick Chevotarevich, a young Pittsburgh steelworker with a poetic bent who is emotionally and spiritually destroyed by his combat experience of war in Vietnam. Walken's performance is notable for his transformation from a sensitive, gentle character to a self-destructive, zoned out automaton, high on heroin and gambling with his life at Russian roulette. To get the hollowed-out look for his character, Walken ate nothing but bananas and rice.
This film is worth mentioning for the immense scandal it caused both during its production and after its release. It led to the financial ruin of United Artists, hastened the end of directorial control of films in Hollywood and offended many in a climate marked by a return to political conservatism with the election of Ronald Reagan. The film received extremely negative reviews in the USA, but was seen in a more favourable light by European critics and a 2004 re-release in selected cinemas in the USA and Australia has attracted a more positive reevaluation of the artistic merits of the film. Although Walken's role does not provide him with the opportunities offered by Michael Cimino's previous film The Deer Hunter, his cold and alien menace as a highly efficient hired gun is unexpectedly offset by a romantic vulnerability and a subtly amusing take on his character, Nat Champion's aspirations to social betterment.
In this David Cronenberg film, Walken plays schoolteacher Johnny Smith who, after lying in a coma for five years, awakes to find he has psychic powers. The role is currently being reprised by Anthony Michael Hall in a TV series of the same name. Walken later spoofed his role in a sketch in Saturday Night Live titled "Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic". Walken's otherworldly looks and his ability to play vulnerable damaged characters are put to good effect here. Walken's performance in this film is often regarded as one of his best.
Walken gets to play the much sought after role as a James Bond villain in this film. He plays opposite Roger Moore as Max Zorin, the psychotic villain, who runs a horse stable which suspiciously always produces winning horses. Walken dyed his hair an interesting blond for this film (as befitting his origins as a Nazi experiment) and plays opposite the singer Grace Jones.
Walken stars as Brad Whitewood, a psychotic rural Pennsylvania family crime boss, who tries to bring his two estranged sons, played by real-life brothers Sean Penn and Chris Penn, into his criminal world. Based on a true story about the Bruce Johnston crime family which operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the late 1970s. This film has received much critical acclaim over the years.
This art house film directed by Paul Schrader, who scripted Taxi Driver, has the notable distinction of providing a role for Walken that disturbed even him. He plays a decadent Italian aristocrat, Robert, who lives with his wife (Helen Mirren) in Venice. Robert has extreme sexual tastes and murderous tendencies. Walken, sporting Armani suits, provides an understated performance that combines charm, evil and sudden and shocking violence.
This film by noted independent New York film maker Abel Ferrara has attracted both a cult following and the attention of serious film theorists (for example Nicole Brenez. Walken stars as mysterious but ruthless New York City drug dealer Frank White, recently released from prison and set on reclaiming his criminal territory by any means necessary. White also has moral pretensions, acting as a kind of a Robin Hood figure. In this film Walken has the opportunity and screen time to demonstrate his range and his experimental abilities as an actor.
This film was an immense success at the box office and still has quite a following. Here, Walken plays greedy millionare industrialist Max Schreck, who attempts to get Oswald Copplepot elected as mayor of Gotham City for his own personal gain. Despite being the only normal one of the villains, it is he who is the most evil. As he was responsible for Selina Kyle's transformation into Catwoman and he manipulated both the Penguin and the citizens of Gotham City in an attempt to build a Power plant which steals, instead of supplies Gotham's power. His character can be seen as a reflection of Bruce Wayne.
Walken plays a scene opposite Dennis Hopper in this film. This so-called 'Sicilian scene' has become a cult favourite and is frequently hailed by critics — professional and amateur alike — as the best scene in the film. This scene alone is the subject of four commentaries on the DVD attesting to its cult status. After an exchange of dialogue (penned by Quentin Tarantino) Walken's character, Sicilian gangster Vincenzo Coccotti, summarily executes Hopper's character after deliberate provocation by the latter.
This film, which has received many accolades, contains another frequently quoted cult scene with Walken scripted by Tarantino. Here Walken offers a slightly disturbing, but nonetheless amusing turn as a Vietnam veteran, Captain Koons, who in a long speech delivers a watch to a small boy from his dead father. Koons explains just how the watch had been hidden during his long years in a prisoner of war camp.
Although this is a fairly average film, it is worth mentioning as one of Walken's few outings in a principal role in a romantic comedy. He plays Vanni Corso, an American publisher living in London who falls for one of his authors, Kate Swallow, played by French actress Carole Bouquet. He also dances a tango, although it is difficult to see much detail due to the way it is filmed.
This film was made by Donald Cammell who directed the experimental landmark film of sixties counter-culture Performance with Mick Jagger. Cammell removed his name from the 1995 studio cut of Wild Side and a far superior 'director's cut' was only released posthumously in 2000. The film boasts one of Walken's most extreme performance. In one notable and lengthy scene his character, international money launderer Bruno Buckingham, high on drugs, graphically threatens to rape his chauffeur, an undercover cop.
In this horror film directed by Gregory Widen, also featuring Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen and Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer, Walken takes on the role of the evil Archangel Gabriel. In this account, Gabriel has rebelled against God because God favors humans over the angels. The film and its two sequels (1998, 2000) has attracted a cult following amongst Walken's fans. Two further sequels without Walken have been made - one was released on DVD in 2005. Walken's over the top but nuanced performance in these films is a favourite with many fans.
Another horror film, this one directed by cult director Abel Ferrara and written by Nicholas St. John, deals with modern vampires in New York City. The writer and director use vampirism as a metaphor for the Christian doctrine of original sin, and Walken plays an ancient vampire who has learned to control his addiction for blood - an outward manifestation of the inward hunger - to the degree that he is able to function fairly normally in society.
Weapon of Choice is a four minute video clip directed by Spike Jonze with music by Fatboy Slim. Spike Jonze has directed numerous other video clips and films such as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.. It won six MTV awards in 2001 and also won best video of all time in April 2002, in a list of the top 100 videos of all time, compiled from a survey of musicians, directors and music industry figures conducted by a UK music TV channel VH1. In this video, Walken performs a tap dance around the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Los Angeles. Walken also helped choreograph the dance.
Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 film by Steven Spielberg is inspired by the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), the legendary con artist who managed to pass himself off as several identities and forge millions of dollars worth of checks, with an FBI agent (Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks) hot on his trail. Christopher Walken plays Frank Abagnale, Sr., Frank Jr.'s father, in a difficult and emotionally charged role. His portrayal earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Christopher Walken has stated in an interview that unless one collided with his filming scheduele from another one, he has never turned down a role and never will unless one collides with his filming scheduele from another one. He has also stated in interviews that he never regrets doing a role not even the ones that got him typecasted or Razzie award nominations.
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