Christoph Waltz To Make Writing-Directing Debut

It's great that Christoph Waltz won the Oscar for his role in Inglourious Basterds, but what he really wants to do is direct. Waltz has inked a deal to make his feature film directorial debut with Auf Und Davon (Up and Away, or as IMDB has it, Up, Up and Away), based on his own script. The Hollywood Reporter says the film is about "a woman who is the ruthless host of a dating show competition. She finds herself in over her head when the show's romantic story line bumps into her own feelings for a contestant," and a rep for Fox Internation, which bought the project, says that Up and Away "reflect's Christoph's formidable sense of humor." If you saw any of Waltz' speeches during awards season, you know he's got a pretty stout vocabulary, and even if he wrote down and memorized those speeches knowing he'd win (pretty good bet he was going to walk home with gold), that kind of proves the point that maybe screenwriting is a good next step. As for why he's directing and why now, why not? When will Christoph Waltz ever have the world at his feet again? Maybe Basterds was just the beginning, but it usually doesn't work that way for a seasoned actor. He'll certainly enjoy a good couple of years, but what happens in 2015? If Waltz can make a movie his way, he should do it. It doesn't hurt that it sounds like a dark comedy. In German, no less.

Comments

[SEAN]

Great post & great news!!

Waltz is magnificent, truly a very articulate smart actor, & those aren't the norm for this type of profession as most of us already know...

It's refreshing to see, & it seems the premise is quite interesting....I'll support him & hopefully he can ride this new found fame wave for a long time

[Z]

I would disagree regarding the "norm" being that actors are not smart or articulate and say that there is not a norm at all. There are many very articulate, smart actors out there. There are also many nutcases out there. It can be easy to get distracted by tabloids and begin to believe that all actors are like Lindsay Lohan in some way.

Acting is a craft. It is hard work and most of them got there with hard work, much training, intelligence, and being able to articulate. You may respond with, "why do actors make bad choices in the roles they pick, or why are they inconsistent, sometimes performing great or not at all?" Well, it is important to remember that making films is a very collaborative process. Actors rely on the director more then most people know. The director is in charge of guiding them into their characters and coaxing the right performance out of them. And with all of the other variables, especially writing, it may be difficult for an actor to seem smart, articulate or a good performer at all if there is bad writing.

None of this is to say that Christopher Waltz is not a step ahead, but to say it is not the norm is untruthful. Remember, even when you are watching a bad performance by John Travolta playing a bad guy, you are still watching decent acting. It is just happens to be the "worst of the best." If you do not believe me, then go to some community theatre and see the "best of the worst" or go try to act yourself and realize it's difficulties.