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QUIZ

Prince of Darkness

Test your knowledge of Christopher Walken

By Sean Monkman

In the new Adam Sandler vehicle, Click (opening June 23), Christopher Walken plays a scientist who invents a universal remote control that enables Sandler’s character to pause, rewind and fast-forward time. It demonstrates, yet again, that while he has never secured a place on the roster of Hollywood’s leading men, Walken has carved out a healthy niche in the “memorable supporting actors” strata. His most unforgettable parts have tended to be kooks and psychos. When asked about his quirky roles, Walken purportedly said, “Is typecasting really a problem?”

1. What memorable ’70s film character earned Walken an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role?
	Howard Beale, ageing news anchor in Network
	Travis Bickle, murderous cab driver in Taxi Driver
	Nikonar 'Nick' Chevotarevich, soldier who excels at Russian roulette in The Deer Hunter
	Don Corleone, mob boss in The Godfather
	Jake 'J.J.' Gittes, private investigator in Chinatown

2. What music video, released in 2000 and directed by Spike Jonze, surprised many people by showing Walken to be a polished dancer?
	Weapon of Choice – Fatboy Slim
	Da Funk – Daft Punk
	Elektrobank – Chemical Brothers
	Praise You – Fatboy Slim
	Sabotage – The Beastie Boys

3. In an April 2000 episode of Saturday Night Live, Walken portrayed musician/record producer Bruce Dickinson in a now-legendary spoof of VH1’s Behind the Music. What catchphrase did this skit spawn?
	“We’re not worthy!”
	“More cowbell!”
	“Simmah down nah!!!”
	“And I live...in a van...down by the river!”
	“Buh-bye”

4. Walken has often taken on the roles of villains and weirdoes. Which of the following is not one of his roles?
	Max Zorin, A View To A Kill
	The Headless Horseman, Sleepy Hollow
	Max Schreck, Batman Returns
	Vincent Coccotti, True Romance
	Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects

5. Which of the following is untrue about Christopher Walken?
	He worked as a lion tamer in a travelling one-ring circus at age 16
	He was a contender for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars
	His first name is actually Ronald; Christopher was a name given to him by a stage colleague – it stuck
	His distinctive hair is actually a wig – he lost all his hair in a makeup mishap on Broadway in the ’60s
	He is said to have a ritual of sucking lemons before delivering his dialogue

6. In a memorable scene in Pulp Fiction, Walken plays a Vietnam vet named Captain Coons, who relates a story to a youngster about the boy’s dead father. Coons ends the monologue by presenting the boy with a memento Coons and the father took turns concealing while POWs. What was the memento?
	A gold pen
	A gold wristwatch
	A pair of aviator wings
	The father’s dog tags
	A wooden tiki doll

7. In reference to a role he played at Stratford (Ontario) in 1968, Walken is reported to have said, “I never knew why I got the job but I always suspected it was because I’d done a job where I wore tights.” What was the role?
	King Lear in King Lear
	Romeo in Romeo and Juliet
	Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman
	Estragon in Waiting for Godot
	Snoopy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

8. What technique does … Walken … use to … arrive at … his distinctive way of … delivering … lines?
	He practices his lines by typing them into a Speak & Spell machine and playing them back
	He crosses out all the punctuation in his scripts to allow him to develop completely original readings
	He memorizes the script in reverse order and forces himself to mentally reorder the words as he is delivering them
	He takes inspiration from remembering how his German father’s English sounded
	He has a slight mental tic and speaks in the same way as everybody else sounds to him

9. Some of Walken’s acting choices have been a little uneven: “I make movies that nobody will see. I’ve made movies that even I have never seen.” Which of these duds was he lucky enough not to have been in?
	The most expensive flop in movie history, Heaven’s Gate (1980)
	The Bennifer bomb, Gigli (2003)
	A shelved Ben Stiller/Jack Black film dusted off when the latter got hot, Envy (2004)
	The, er, comedy-thriller remake of The Stepford Wives (2004)
	The unnecessary Sharon Stone sequel, Basic Instinct 2 (2006)

10. This is how Walken describes his first experience in showbiz: “It sounds odd now, but when I was growing up, it wasn’t. There were hundreds of kids who did that.” What did he do?
	As a 14-month-old, he appeared nude – with two cats – in a popular calendar
	When he was five, he was a joke-telling newsboy who sold papers to rush-hour commuters in Times Square
	At the age of seven, he was a chimney sweep who found that he could make more money by incorporating dance into his work
	When he was only nine, he was featured in a national print campaign for cigarettes
	At the age of 11, he worked as a door-to-door singing vacuum salesman