IT WAS A BUSY YEAR AND THEN IT WASNT
A letter from Christopher Walken
Today marks 82 years since the birth of Christopher Walken, a true Hollywood one-off whose unmistakable cadence and offbeat charm have made him endlessly watchable for decades, right up to the present day with his superb performance in Severance. Thankfully, he writes letters—and, remarkably, he writes them exactly as he speaks. The rhythm, the tangents, the humour—it’s all there. This all-caps note to fans, written in 2004 and shared by Candy Rosenbaum, then (and possibly still) president of the Online Christopher Walken Fan Club, is part update, part ramble, part existential shrug. If only it were longer.
AUGUST, 04
DEAR FANS,
IT WAS A BUSY YEAR AND THEN IT WASNT. BOTH OF WHICH IS FINE. UNTIL NEW YEARS EVE (10:30 PM) OF ’03, I WAS SHOOTING AROUND THE BEND (COMES OUT OCT-NOV) IN NEW MEXICO. THEN, IN THE WINTER, JOHN TURTURROS ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES WITH THE GREAT SUSAN SARANDON AND JAMES GANDOLFINI. THEN IN THE SPRING, A NICE JOB WITH OWEN WILSON AND VINCE VAUGHN ON THE WEDDING CRASHERS. IN LA AND SOME BEAUTIFUL LOCATIONS IN MARYLAND.
THEN CAME THE NOT SO BUSY PART. I FINISHED THE WEDDING CRASHERS IN EARLY JUNE AND NOW ITS MID AUGUST AND HERE I AM UNEMPLOYED. ID THROW MYSELF OUT MY BASEMENT WINDOW BUT IM AFRAID ID BREAK MY NOSE. HA HA.
ITS BEEN A GOOD SUMMER THO VERY HOT AND RAINY IN THE NORTH EAST. I READ SOME GOOD BOOKS AND WATCHED A LOT OF CHARLIE ROSE.
THANKS, CANDY ROSENBAUM FOR THE STUFF ABOUT RUTGER HAUER. I LIKED HIM IMMEDIATELY. HES AN AMAZING ACTOR AND AN EXPERIENCED SAILOR. I HOPE TO WORK WITH HIM AGAIN.
THIS FALL, I HEAR THERE ARE SOME JOB POSSIBILITIES BUT THERE WILL BE PRESS FOR AROUND THE BEND AND VARIOUS THINGS.
I HOPE YOU ARE WELL AND THRIVING AND THANKS, CANDY, FOR PUTTING ALL THIS TOGETHER.
THE CATS ARE WELL AND BEST TO YOU ALL.
CHRIS WALKEN
Many thanks to “CW” for sharing this letter. I’ll assume those initials aren’t short for the man himself—while quietly hoping otherwise.
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As has become almost inevitable, today's Letter of Note sent me off on a tangent...to the Online Christopher Walken Fan Club! :-). Thanks!
A movie with Rutger Hauer and Christopher Walken would be the weirdest, most disturbing I can imagine. Then again, I'm imagining Blade Runner meets the Headless Horseman.