Christopher Walken, with his stone-face and signature elocution, has built an incredible mystique over the course of his career. And like another odd yet deeply beloved actor (Jeff Goldblum) he knows you are obsessed with him. And he uses this cultural fascination with his Walken ways to his own bemusement, and cake-getting.
Maggie Q, Walken's co-star in the sports comedy Balls of Fury, has given the world a glimpse into the strange inner life of Christopher Walken. In her Reddit AMA to promote her upcoming series Stalker, she sang the praises of Tom Cruise, discussed her process, and spoke out for animal rights. But amid all that Maggie Q delivered a bizarre and yet believable story about how Walken amuses himself during the downtime on film shoots. Essentially, he fakes his birthday.
Asked if Christopher Walken is "funny as hell" in real life, Maggie Q answered,
"Christopher Walken is not going to be cracking jokes with you. The reason why Christopher is funny - my assessment of him, I can't say this is set in stone, but my assessment of him is that he is sort of bored with people. Because everyone worships him. Because he's Christopher Walken! So Chris would do things to amuse himself, on-set, and one thing that he does that he loves is he likes to lie and say it's his birthday. Because he wants everyone to buy him a cake, and sing to him, and it's never his birthday when he does this. So i heard from other friends, I think Laurence Fishburne told me this, and Dan had heard from someone else that he did this, so one day I come into work and there's a birthday cake it's half eaten, I grab a piece and I say "who's birthday is it?" and they say "IT's CHRIS!" and I knew it wasn't. And so I went up to him onset and I said "It's not your birthday" and he chuckled like a child.It's the best, right?I mean, he has to do things to amuse himself. Because I don't think people challenge him anymore."
So if you're ever fortunate enough to spot Christopher Walken in the wild--or the streets of New York or Los Angeles, whatever--don't just rush over and gush about how much you love him in one of his 120-some roles, from Deer Hunter to The Prophecy. Instead, coolly wish him a happy birthday. You might just make him laugh.
To toast the beautiful bizarreness that is Christopher Walken, let's enjoy his quirky dance choreography from Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice."
Happy birthday, Mr. Walken.
