No./13 Why is Christopher Walken in... Bristol?
The Oscar-winner talks us through his unlikeliest starring role, in Stephen Merchant’s THE OFFENDERS
CHRISTOPHER WALKEN IS 78. He won an Oscar for his performance in The Deer Hunter. He’s worked with Spielberg, Cronenberg, Tarantino, et al. And he’ll soon be seen on BBC One as a dodgy guy called Frank doing community service in Bristol. The deal for this fabulously unlikely starring role — in Offenders, created and directed by Stephen Merchant — was sealed in 2019 over an omelette. “Stephen came to my house in Connecticut,” explains Walken. “And we spent a few hours just talking and I liked him very much. Then I cooked him an omelette and he ate it and then he asked if I had any more, and I thought, ‘Well, I have to work with this guy.’”
Walken knew of and admired Merchant’s work as co-creator of The Office, but was taken aback when they met over said cheese-andscallion omelette. “Stephen is very impressive and intelligent — a brilliant man,” enthuses Walken. “He’s got a big brain and he writes very good dialogue. On some projects you’re encouraged to improvise, but I’ve done some Quentin Tarantino scripts and every word I ever said in those movies was what was in his scripts, and that works best for me. And that’s the same with Stephen’s scripts.”
The series features an ensemble of disparate characters, played by Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark), Darren Boyd (Killing Eve) and Merchant himself, among others, brought together when they have to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol. But despite boldly attempting an Irish accent recently for his role in the film Wild Mountain Thyme, we’re not going to get Bristolian Walken just yet. “My character Frank is just like me,” he explains. “He looks like me, and he sounds like me, so I didn’t have to do much.”
Before filming took place in late 2020, Walken had to be quarantined. “But as soon as I was let out I walked all over Bristol and discovered many nice places,” he says. “And I had fun with the actors. On the first day everyone was kind of quiet. We all sat there just kind of staring at each other, but within a couple of hours, things got silly. When things start to get silly, you know you’re okay.”
As for whether Walken is as surprised as the rest of us that he’s not only busier than ever, but has also ended up in a BBC comedy series set in Bristol, he nods. “You bet. But I can’t see myself ever not working. I have no hobbies. I don’t like to travel. I have no children. I don’t play golf or tennis. I don’t like to go shopping. So this is really all I have to do.” Except, of course, cooking a mean omelette. “Oh yes,” he says. “Maybe
I’ll open an omelette franchise.” BOYD HILTON THE OFFENDERS AIRS ON BBC ONE THIS AUTUMN