Christopher Walken has revealed in a new interview that he isn’t considering retirement yet.
The 81-year-old actor spoke to The Independent in an interview published last Saturday (February 15). In recent years, Walken has remained a prolific worker in both film and TV – in particular, last year’s Dune: Part Two and Apple TV+ show Severance.
The latter show featured Walken in its first season as Burt, the love interest of Irving (John Turturro). Without giving away spoilers, Burt – who was “retired” at the end of season one – is not entirely out of Irving’s orbit in its ongoing second season.
On the subject of retirement, Walken brushed off any notion of it for his career. “Acting is all I do,” he said. “If I stop, what would I do? There are people who play golf, who write books. They travel, have kids and grandkids. I don’t have any of that, so I go to work.
“But when you look at the history of movies and theatre, very few actors ever say they’re done.” When it comes to directors like Quentin Tarantino – who previously said he’s “ready to quit” making films after one more project – Walken said: “I hope that’s not true”.
Walken also revealed that, throughout his five-decade career, he found it “rare to work with someone you don’t like”.
“It’s happened once or twice, but it’s rare. Actors tend to get along. We’re like a tribe, a family. Every once in a while there’s somebody you’d like to push down the stairs, but…” he said, before continuing, “I swear it’s only ever a passing thought.”
Recently, Walken revealed that he has never “emailed” or owned a mobile phone – and that he’s only been able to watch Severance thanks to DVDs sent to him by producers.
Severance is one of the most talked-about shows on TV right now, with fans praising its return and describing it as “peak television”.
The second season landed a five-star review from NME, with James Mottram writing: “As things get all the more intriguing by the minute, Severance is a show best watched on high alert.”
“For example, graffiti scrawled in the background reads “Who is alive?” By the time The Stone Roses’ ‘Love Spreads’ hits the soundtrack, with Ian Brown wailing “Let me put you in the picture / Let me show you what I mean”, you’ll be begging for the Severance team to do the same. Don’t stress it, though. Enjoy the ride and let this unique show tease and titillate your brain until you finally submit.”
Five episodes of Severance season two have been released so far. There have been surprises along the way, including a voice cameo from Keanu Reeves as the Lumon building during a training video in episode one, and the reappearance of the mysterious goat department, headed up by Gwendoline Christie’s Lorne. Episode four, released Friday February 7, revealed a major twist involving Britt Lower’s Helly.
Stiller recently spoke out about how he banned mobile phones on set of the show. Elsewhere, it was announced on February 14 that Stiller will return to screens (after a long period of directing and producing) to star in HBO’s new drama series The Band, in which he’ll reportedly play a disgraced music industry titan looking to create a new boy band.