Christoph Waltz

 

  1. Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method, 2010.     An Oscar in his grasp (for Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds) on March 7,  Waltz rejected the double whammy of  Sigmund Freud (the role) and David Cronenberg (the director) for Water For Elephants (the flop). Well, Waltz had already been Friedrich Nietzsche, Tristan and German pop idol Ray Black in  his long TV career.
  2. Rhys Ifans, The Amazing Spider-Man, 2010.
  3. Zach Braff, Oz the Great and Powerful, 2012.     In early talks for  Frank,   a nothing role in a nothing movie –  the  assistant mistreated by his boss, James Franco, woefully miscast as Oz. Unless you realise he’s really Dorothy.  Oh, why did Disney bother with such a non-starter? And I mean  the film and actor. 
  4. Ty Burrell, The Muppets 2, 2012.     Surprising switch of the Interpol cop due to schedules. Even so, Waltz being succeeded by Modern Family TV star Burrell did not sound right… except that the short German was en route to his second supporting Oscar, for his second Tarantino film, Django Unchained, 2012.  Then Steven Spielberg cast him in… his 2013 Cannes jury!  Next honour? Waltz got his own 80c Austrian postage stamp in 2017.
  5. Kate Winslet, Triple 9,2015.   Title is US PD code for: officer down. Behind the heists in this star-stuffed Reservoir Puppieswas the mastermind, rejected by Waltz – not Tarrantino enough for him, ie no monologues – and ultimately played by, of all people expected to be Kosher Nostra hood … our Kate. Oh, She had the chops.  Not the Russian-Israeli accent.
  6. Kurt Russell,Guardians of the Glaxy Vol. 2, 2016.    Aged between Christopher Plummer and Max Von Sydow’s 87 and Matthew McConaughey’s 47, fifteen actors were Marveled about for Ego, father of Chris Pratt’s hero, Peter Quill aka Star Lord.  The others in the  loop were Waltz, Alec Baldwin, Michael Biehn, Robert De Niro, Mel Gibson, Stephen Lang, Viggo Mortensen, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Ron Perlman, Arnold Schwarzenegger  and Bruce Willis.
  7. Javier Bardem, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, 2015.  The fifth one.. The one with Paul McCartney as Uncle Jack, singing Maggie May   The double-rationed Blofeld in Bond country was set for Captain Brand until his work-load interfered. When the Spanish Bardem (another 007 villain)  took over, Brand became Salazar.  Mrs Bardem, Penelope Cruz, had co-starred with Johnny Depp in the previous, Pirates chapter: On Stranger Tides, 2010.
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 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  7