If you put Tim Burton, the New York Times, and cinema and journalism’s elite in one room, things are bound to turn meta. Last night, the crowd at 92Y found out just how meta such an event can be when Christoph Waltz made things awkward. During a Q&A with director Burton and co-star Amy Adams for Big Eyes, Waltz turned the tables on moderator Dave Itzkoff. From THR:
When Waltz was asked his first question of the hour-long discussion, he instead leaned forward to address Itzkoff: “Can I ask you a question? What’s that obsession or that obsessive insistence on true stories? Why does it have to be true in what we call ‘real life?’ Your questions so far are all about how it relates to what you call truth and real characters.” He pointed to the screen above them and continued, “That’s real, that’s our reality, that’s where our stories are.” The moderator then jested that Waltz must have psychiatrists in his family tree, to which he replied, “Not one — he was a psychoanalyst.”
With the flood gates wide open, Waltz took every opportunity available to ignore or complain about his questions and ask Itzkoff (or the crowd) his own:
Waltz then continued, “It’s just a question because I really think our work is not the work of biographers; we’re not scientists, we’re not academics. Talking for myself, I’m just an actor, but Tim is an artist. That’s a reality. It’s just not necessarily the ‘reality’ that is used in vernacular terms, or called in vernacular terms ‘reality.’ It’s not unreal when we’re doing it — but anyway, ask your question.”
All in all it sounds like a pretty unnerving night for anyone who wasn’t Waltz or Itzkoff. I especially feel bad for Adams, who probably just sat in her chair, smiling awkwardly. Then again, you’d smile awkwardly too if you were seated next to this guy.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
