By Alexandra Wolfe from The Wall Street Journal
Read the full article here.
“Christoph Waltz started out as a theater actor and attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.”
Life for Christoph Waltz has changed dramatically in the past five years. After struggling to make it as an actor for 35 years, he broke into mainstream Hollywood only recently.
Mr. Waltz, 58, kept at it, although he admits that he had some doubts along the way. Waltz started out as a theater actor and attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. He acted onstage and on television in Germany and the U.K. from 1980 to 2000.
Now, Christoph Waltz spends his time in New York, London and Berlin. He has four children – three with his first wife and one with his second, the costume designer Judith Holste. He is concerned about how the next generation will be affected by what he calls the “commodification” of culture. He worries, for example, that “stories are not really explored into the darker corners,” he says. “I worry about the algorithm ruining my life,” he adds, referring to the effect of digital media on entertainment.
His desire to avoid commercialization hasn’t precluded him from taking roles in blockbuster franchises like James Bond. In “Spectre,” slated for release in 2015. Mr. Waltz will play the role of Franz Oberhauser, rumored to be a pseudonym for the iconic Bond villain Blofeld, a possibility the actor has neither confirmed nor denied. “I worry about commodification, not about commodities,” he answers obliquely over email.
Christoph Waltz is an alumnus of The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute®. Learn more about the programs and classes available here. Apply here.