Any comedian worth their salt has a Christopher Walken impression at the ready, and with good reason. With his lithe, six-foot frame and his wide, pale face, Walken demands attention, and that’s before he says a word.
Walken stands out even more whenever he speaks, thanks to his distinctive voice and unusual way of speaking. He pauses where no one else would pause and accentuates words that most run past.
Thanks to those unique qualities, Walken has carved out an enviable Hollywood career, as demonstrated in these outstanding films that feature iconic Christopher Walken performances.
1. The Dead Zone (1983)
“The ice… is gonna break!” If someone just heard that line alone, divorced from the context of David Cronenberg’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Dead Zone, they might consider it a joke. It contains all of the unique qualities of Walken’s unusual cadence, shouted at the top of his lungs. But within the story about schoolteacher Johnny Smith, a man who gains the ability to see the future, the line gains a terrifying immediacy.
Johnny begs his employer (Anthony Zerbe) to call off a planned hockey practice for his son, which he knows will end in death. In that scene and many others, Walken captures the pathos and hopelessness of a man who can see the future but may not be able to do anything to fix it.
2. The Deer Hunter (1978)
Walken already had a few film credits to his name by 1978, but it was the war epic The Deer Hunter that made him a name worth remembering.
Directed by Michael Cimino and written by Deric Washburn, The Deer Hunter follows three Pennsylvania men — Walken, Robert Di Nero, and John Savage — who get crushed by the horrors of the Vietnam War. As Nick, Walken plays the most sensitive of the group, who sees and experiences even worse than he feared while overseas.
As one might guess, Walken’s uncanny nature made him a natural for playing the glassy-eyed, shell-shocked man that Nick becomes. But his skill as an actor allowed him to remind viewers of the humanity at Nick’s shattered core. The film also won him an Oscar, making it one of the must-see Christopher Walken performances.
3. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
By 2002, Christopher Walken had become a comedy figure, someone who pops up as a good-natured joke time and again. So it was a pleasant surprise to see him take on such a rich dramatic role in a supporting part as Frank Abagnale Sr., father of the con man Frank Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, written by Jeff Nathanson.
The elder Frank cannot achieve the material success he desires; he covers his sense of failure with a charming attitude and minor scams. At the start of the film, he captures his aspiration in a speech about a mouse that falls into milk. But when he repeats the speech later in the film, Walken adds a note of sadness and resilience, making Frank into a tragic figure, and making his role one of the most powerful Christopher Walken performances.
4. Severance (2022)
Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, the Apple TV+ series Severance takes the workplace comedy in a surreal, revolutionary direction. Employees for the company Lumon Industries go through a process called “severance,” which divides their memories and personalities into “innies,” their workplace selves, and “outies,” their out-of-work selves. The two selves know nothing of one another, which leads to intrigue and mystery as the innies learn about their outer selves.
Walken enters midway through the show’s first season as Burt Goodman, a division head who embarks on a romance with the fastidious Irving (John Turturro). Severance gives Walken a chance to show off his comic chops, but it also uncovers a sweet and tender side, on display in the gentle romance between two older men.
5. At Close Range (1986)
Throughout the 90s, Walken became a regular in crime movies as filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino took advantage of his ability to play menace. But the 1986 movie At Close Range best captures Walken’s presence as a criminal figure. Written by Nicholas Kazan and directed by James Foley, At Close Range stars Sean Penn as Brad Whitwood Jr., who reconnects with his estranged father Brad Sr. (Walken), in hopes that the older man can integrate him into his gang.
At Close Range has Walken developing some of the tricks he uses in later crime films, pausing between words to ratchet the tension or giving an eerie, slack-jawed stare. But there’s a physicality to his performance as Brad Sr. that gets lost over the next decade, a sense that his character has dirt under his fingernails and blood on his knuckles.
6. “Weapon of Choice,” Fatboy Slim
On one hand, “Weapon of Choice” continued Walken’s transformation into a cultural joke. After all, what could be more random than watching him rise from an easy chair at the start of the video and then dance through the room, even launching himself to the ceiling?
On the other hand, the Fatboy Slim video shows off a skill that Walken has to sneak into most of his other roles: his dancing abilities. “Weapon of Choice” reminds viewers that Walken is a trained dancer, and there’s joy in watching him move his massive frame with ease and grace. By the time the song ends, nobody is laughing at Walken. They’re all sharing in his joy.
7. Pulp Fiction (1994)
Walken became a mainstay in 90s crime movies because of his work with Tarintino. But too often, other filmmakers forgot that Tarantino liked to work with Walken because the actor knew how to deliver a monologue. No scene better demonstrates Walken’s skills in a florid monologue than Tarantino’s breakout Pulp Fiction.
Walken appears in one just one scene, as a Vietnam veteran who brings a watch to the son of a fallen war buddy. The story he tells is absurd in crass, and Walken doesn’t shy away from the gross parts. Nor does he overplay them. Instead, he finds notes of sincerity in the character, playing him as a man who wants to do one last good deed for a friend and bring some semblance of peace and comfort to the boy.
8. “More Cowbell” Saturday Night Live
Walken had been a regular guest on Saturday Night Live throughout the 90s, but his most iconic sketch came in the year 2000s. Written by Will Ferrell and Donnell Campbell, the sketch purports to tell the story of 70s rock band Blue Öyster Cult writing their hit, “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
Walken plays producer Bruce Dickinson, who demands the prog-rockers add cowbell to the track. Yes, the sketch does play on Walken’s unique cadences, but it also shows off his comic timing, proving that he can earn the laughs directed at him.
9. Annie Hall (1977)
Walken had appeared in many movies before joining the cast of the Woody Allen comedy Annie Hall. But it was his performance as Annie’s (Diane Keaton) brother Duane. Walken appears while Annie’s paramour Alvy Singer (Allen) waits for her and tries to strike up a conversation with Duane.
In a more comic version of the character he’ll play in The Deer Hunter, Walken gives Duane a blank and unnerving scare. The more uncomfortable and awkward Alvy becomes, Walken’s stoicism grows more unnerving. The scene occurs a good 15 years before Walken becomes a comedy regular, highlighting a sense of humor that later films will not often employ.
10. A View to a Kill (1985)
Even diehard James Bond fans count Roger Moore’s last outing A View to a Kill among the worst in the series. However, outside of the rocking Duran Duran theme song, the movie’s saving grace comes in the form of the villain Max Zoren (Walken), and his right-hand woman May Day (Grace Jones).
Director John Glen and screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson give Walken and Jones much to chew on as malevolent Silicon Valley raiders, especially when Zoren’s origins as the product of fascist science are revealed. Walken and Jones rise to the challenge, cackling and embracing the goofy story with the energy the movie needs.
11. Seven Psychopaths (2012)
Although it came out in 2012, Seven Psychopaths feels very much like a crime movie from the 90s post-Tarantino wave, with its excessive violence, verbose characters, and self-aware humor.
Written and directed by Irish playwright turned filmmaker Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths stars Colin Farrell as a screenwriter trying to make a movie about a pacifist assassin and Sam Rockwell as his pal Billy, who runs a dog-napping scheme with Walken’s dapper Hans. The trio must run for their lives when Billy and Hans steal the dog of a remorseless mobster (Woody Harrelson).
Despite that slick and snarky set-up, Walken gets to play a different variation of his previous crime characters, a man who maintains his dignity despite the calamities in his life.
12. Blast from the Past (1999)
Walken’s Saturday Night Live appearances led to his inclusion in several comedies throughout the late 90s and 2000s. As fun as these appearances were, they did not often challenge Walken as a performer. That cannot be said of Blast from the Past, the amiable comedy from Hugh Wilson, who co-wrote the script with Bill Kelly.
Walken plays crackpot scientist Calvin Webber, whose fears about nuclear war drive him to hide his wife (Sissy Spacek) and son in a bomb shelter for three decades. Most of Blast from the Past follows the romance between Calvin’s son Adam (Brendan Fraser), who experiences life outside the bunker for the first time as an adult, and nice girl Eve (Alicia Silverstone). But whenever the film moves back to the elder Webbers navigating the 90s, Walken shows that his comedy potential extends beyond his odd looks and behavior.
13. Batman Returns (1992)
Perhaps the greatest testament to Walken’s power as an actor comes in Batman Returns, the Tim Burton-directed sequel to the 1989 blockbuster Batman. The Batman Returns script by Daniel Waters calls for not one but two baddies to cross Batman (Michael Keaton): the Penguin (Danny DeVito) and Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer).
DeVito and Pfeiffer turn in all-time great villain performances, and yet Walken fits in right next to them as the businessman Max Schreck. Whether staring wide-eyed at the destruction occurring around him or trading verbal jabs with Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne, Walken’s Schreck that not all bad guys wear outrageous outfits.
14. Pennies from Heaven (1981)
Those who pay close attention to Walken’s performances notice that he tries to work a few slick dance moves into every one of his appearances. He does this because of his training as a dancer, something that few roles have given him the opportunity to show off.
The musical Pennies from Heaven, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dennis Potter, is the exception to the rule. Walken plays Tom, a man of ill repute who ropes in jilted innocent Eileen (Bernadette Peters), a woman on a downward spiral after a disastrous affair with a married man (Steve Martin). Although Pennies from Heaven gives Walken a few dance numbers, he doesn’t give up the menace that cemented his reputation, making Tom one of the more interesting characters in his filmography.
15. King of New York (1990)
Nothing in King of New York is subtle. Director Abel Ferrara and writer Nicholas St. John revel in the destruction wrought by the battle between police and drug kingpin Frank White, played by Walken. They fill the film with bombastic shootouts, absurd car chases, with over-the-top characters.
Walken tunes his performance to fit within the world, making Frank a true force of nature bent on controlling NYC. But he also plays up Frank’s charm as he tries to win the hearts of people around him, a quality that makes the character all the more dangerous.
16. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Few actors could lose one of their most distinctive qualities and still turn in a great performance. But in Sleepy Hollow, written by Andrew Kevin Walker and directed by Tim Burton, Walken never speaks a word to play the Headless Horseman.
Instead, he relies only on his body to capture the supernatural brutality of a Hessian coming back to the dead to terrorize the citizens of Sleepy Hollow. When the Horseman strides across a battlefield or tells a child to keep quiet, Walken reminds viewers that he has many tools to make a terrifying character.
17. Dune: Part Two (2024)
For Dune: Part Two, the massive second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert epic, co-written by Jon Spaihts, several great actors joined an already stacked cast, including Florence Pugh and Léa Seydoux. So when Villeneuve added Walken as Shaddam Emperor Corrino IV, viewers knew that he would not get much screen time, despite the film’s almost three-hour runtime.
However, Villeneuve makes the most of Walken’s presence, holding the camera on the actor’s long, weathered face. Even with just a few lines, Walken communicates the tremendous weight that comes from such a position, serving as a dark omen for Dune protagonist Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet).
18. The Prophecy (1995)
The Prophecy is a very cool movie, and writer/director Gregory Widen knows it. In his story about a civil war in heaven spilling out to the earth, the angels all have long hair, goatees, and dusters. The angels and priest-turned-detective Thomas (Elias Koteas) spout self-important monologues filled with pseudo-religious lore.
The entire project would feel overbearing if not for the satisfying action sequences and Walken’s performance as the primary antagonist, the angel Gabriel. Walken tosses off the most over-stuffed line with a lightness and humor that makes the action pop, without ever condescending to the material. His performance cuts the weight of The Prophecy and the movie is much better for it.
19. True Romance (1993)
In some ways, the Tony Scott-directed True Romance feels like a trial run for its writer’s own directorial debut the next year, Pulp Fiction.
Quentin Tarantino fills the True Romance script with the hallmarks of his later work, including colorful monologues. Walken delivers one of those monologues as Vincenzo Coccotti, the ruthless gangster searching for reckless couple Clarence (Christian Slater) and Alabama (Patricia Arquette). The monologue comes in a scene in which Vincenzo threatens Clarence’s father, Clifford (Dennis Hopper), a speech full of disgusting language and florid constructions, made more memorable because of Walken’s delivery.
20. Nick of Time (1995)
Directed by John Badham and written by Patrick Sheane Duncan, Nick of Time sold itself on its real-time gimmick, in which each minute of the runtime corresponds to a minute of the story. But the real effect is the choice of Walken as the film’s villain Mr. Smith, who blackmails accountant Gene (Johnny Depp) into committing a murder before time runs out.
Whether leaving threatening messages or trailing behind Gene, Walken makes his malevolent presence known throughout.
21. Man on Fire (2004)
A decade after True Romance, Walken teamed again with director Tony Scott for Man on Fire, written by Brian Helgeland and based on the novel by A. J. Quinnell. As ex-CIA agent John Casey (Denzel Washington) tries to protect young Lupita (Dakota Fanning), he gets assistance from his old friend Paul Rayburn (Walken).
Scott doesn’t give Walken the most to do in his action-packed thriller. But Walken makes an impression despite his rather small role, going big to further elevate Man on Fire’s overheated tone.
22. Joe Dirt (2001)
Like most of his comedy appearances during the 90s and 2000s, Joe Dirt doesn’t ask Walken to do much more than be his oddball self. When played against the titular, loud-mouthed Southerner (David Spade), Walken’s eccentricities stand out more.
Written by Spade and Fred Wolfe, and directed by Dennie Gordon, Joe Dirt moves from outrageous set-piece to outrageous set-piece. And the best of those setpieces involve Walken’s runaway gangster Clem. In each instance, Walken embraces the goofy story and plays along with the movie’s fun.
