Christoph Waltz or the incredible chance of meeting a great director

 I remember Waltz from a very successful Austrian tv series "Kommissar Rex". He was a killer that the German shepherd Rex and his detective chased in one of the episodes. Honestly,I can't say why I remembered him, but I did and I recognized him many years later him when "Inglourious basterds" came.

And he was really brilliant as Hans Landa, he has a sort of  calm, mean energy,his  face and voice transform easily, making him a credible psychopath.He is a bit theatrical but not exaggerated and it was exactly the right approach for the role.The camera likes him,he is a frail man but somehow he gets threateningly big with sheer force of camera movement and good acting.

He is a disciplined master of his body and his gestures are always measured and poised.
Even though he is not a strikingly handsome man,he is sexy and somehow darkly so.

Waltz had all  these qualities during his long tv career in Austria and Germany but the chance of meeting a great director who knew exactly how to use his best features is what propelled Waltz and made him an internationally acclaimed actor, winner of two Academy awards and almost 50 different acting awards.

There are many actors in Europe and elsewhere in the world who are as good as Waltz and probably a few who are better.

Majority of them is also happy and content with success in their own countries and wouldn't dream of trying somewhere else.But for those who are not and who are eager to launch a serious international career,the most important step is meeting a great director who knows how to present their assets and who is genuinely interested in their acting skills.

Everything starts and ends with directors.Great scripts can be ruined by awful amateurs,wonderful actors massacred by ego maniacs,and every detail in movies depends eventually from the director.He is the one who knows how to choose his crew and most importantly his actors.
The best casting director in the world cannot convince a bad director to take a talented actor instead of a hyped hack.And the best cast can't help the movie if that one person who is responsible for them doesn't know what to do.

Waltz was a lucky guy,and it is best seen if we watch the movies he did without Tarantino,"Water for elephants","Green hornet","Carnage".

He is always good, sometimes  far better than his co-stars but if those were his first movies in Hollywood he would never had the career he has now.

And his second Oscar in Tarantino's "Django unchained" proves my point.

So a loud "bravo" and "good luck" for Waltz and a whisper for all the actors around the world who would like to take one step further:

- yes,agents are important but Taylor Kitsch also had a decent agent who took him to the slaughterhouse called "John Carter" so please please try and start Your career with a great  talented director who is genuinely interested in You and everything will come easily after that