Christopher Walken Told a Funny Story About How He Met Jeff Goldblum
When actors say they don’t always meet their co-stars, they’re not kidding. Case in point: Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum.
“I was in five movies with Jeff Goldblum before I met him,” Walken said randomly during a press event for Peter Pan Live!
Sure enough, the pair of actors both appeared in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), Annie Hall (1977), The Sentinal (1977), and Man of the Year (2006), and each appeared on American Playhouse in the early ’80s. But, alas, it wasn’t a red carpet, awards show, or press junket where the two eventually crossed paths.
Related: Jeff Goldblum Has Something to Say
“I finally met him at a stoplight in Los Angeles,” he said matter-of-factly after some prodding. “I was at a light and there’s a car next to me and Jeff says, ‘Hey, Chris.’ That’s how I met him.”
That lack of interaction with his co-stars wasn’t Walken’s only mild gripe about Hollywood: He’s also tired of playing the bad guy.
“I got to playing villians I don’t know how, but I think it’s like anything else in the movies: that if you establish yourself as something and you’re lucky enough to keep getting hired,” he said. “There’s guys who play the guy who gets the girl; there’s guys who play the best friend, the bad guy, there’s the funny guy, there’s the villain…”
Walken will be adding to his unending list of evildoers as he takes on Captain Hook in NBC’s live musical special. But just because he’s always playing the bad guy doesn’t mean the man can’t dream.
“Does anybody remember that TV show Father Knows Best? There was this guy and he had these sons and they would come to him and say, ‘You know, Dad, what should I do?’ and he would say, ‘Well son, just do the right thing and be decent.’ I’d love to play a part like that,” he said, adding, “Nobody asks me.” Poor guy!
Peter Pan Live! airs Thursday night at 8 p.m. on NBC.
Photo credit: WireImage, FilmMagic
