Quentin Tarantino said that he didn’t allow actor Christoph Waltz to rehearse with other actors for Inglourious Basterds. The 2009 film is set during an alternate version of World War II and follows a band of soldier’s attempt to kill leaders of Nazi Germany. Occupied France sees the arrival of multiple people, who all have the same ultimate goal. One of those people is young French Jewish theatre owner Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), while the titular group is led by First Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and his group of Jewish American soldiers.

Waltz’s performance as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds went on to earn him an Academy Award. The character serves as the antagonist of the film who is also known for his title as “the Jew Hunter.” He’s brought in to find Jews hiding in various locations across Occupied France. While the fictional character is high up in the Nazi Party, he acts out of self-interest by ultimately helping the Basterds in their goal of killing Adolf Hitler. While he manages to survive the film, he’s left with a reminder by Raine that he will never forget.

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During an interview with The Moment podcast (via IndieWire), Tarantino talked about the antagonist. He was so impressed by Waltz in the role, he changed the way that he prepped the cast. The filmmaker wanted the cast to be surprised by Waltz and what he would be be bringing to the role, which the actor agreed to. While he did the big script reading, he was told to tone down his performance for that particular instance and that he could only rehearse with Denis Ménochet, who plays French farmer Perrier LaPadite in the opening scene. See below for Tarantino’s full statement:

“I got together with Christoph before we got to the big script reading with the cast. I told him, ‘I’m not doing this to be perverse game playing…everybody is so curious about who is playing Hans Landa. I don’t want you to be bad at the script reading, but I want you to hold a lot back. I do not want them to think that they are getting a glimpse of who you are really going to be. On a scale of one to 10, be a six. Be good enough, just good enough. I do not want you to be in a competition with anybody, and if you are in competition then lose. I don’t want them to know what you have or for them to have a handle on Landa.”

“In that same vein, with the exception of the French farmer, I don’t want you rehearsing with the other actors before filming. I don’t want Diane Kruger or Brad Pitt to know your gun-slinging abilities until the cameras are rolling.”

Waltz’s performance in Inglourious Basterds would end up being the first of two Academy Awards that he would earn starring in a Tarantino film. He won a second for the same category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Dr. King Schultz in 2012’s Django Unchained. Waltz continues to be a highly in-demand actor in 2021. Next, he will reprise the role of Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the long delayed James Bond film No Time to Die followed by his role as Paul Duval in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch.

His performance in Inglourious Basterds is absolute perfection. He delivers on every note of drama, intimidation, and even humor, despite the dark nature of the character. While it may have been difficult to not be able to rehearse with the cast ahead of filming, Tarantino’s preparation ultimately worked out. Not only were audiences shocked by his talent in the movie, but his fellow cast members weren’t even aware of the caliber of his performance until they were on set. Waltz shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, giving moviegoers the treat of hopefully many more tremendous performances to come. He might even be able to star in Tarantino’s 10th and supposedly final film.

Source: The Moment/IndieWire

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Jeff Nelson
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Jeff Nelson is a news senior writer for Screen Rant and a film critic for DVD Talk. He has worked in areas of the entertainment industry including film criticism, content acquisitions, and research. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Cinema & Television with an emphasis in Media Management and again in 2019 with a Master’s degree in Sociology. His passion for film began by watching Titanic on repeat as a child until the dual-VHS tapes wore out. While he still loves big Hollywood features, his movie taste expanded to independent filmmaking, foreign, and the horror genre. Each year, he looks forward to seeing the breakout films from the festival circuit. When he isn’t watching or writing about film, Jeff is discovering new music, playing video games, and seeking out unique bars and restaurants to try. Follow Jeff on Twitter @SirJeffNelson.

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