Christoph Waltz says he's no flash in the pan star, and here to stay.
While it's true he has only been a presence in Hollywood since his mighty performance in 2009's Inglourious Basterds, he's actually been honing his craft since the late '70s.
He was a star in his native Vienna and Germany thanks to numerous acting credits, but it was only after Quentin Tarantino cast him the epic war tale that he was brought to the attention of the masses.
"He [Quentin] didn’t know me. He did a cattle call and I was one piece of cattle.
“A camera operator said to me recently, ‘Ooh, you’re an overnight success.’ After 35 years, yeah,” Christoph laughed to the British edition of Esquire magazine.
His overnight success label may be due to the fact he has stormed the Oscars twice in the last four years, bagging two Academy Awards for his work with Tarantino; once for his supporting role in Inglourious Basterds, the other for Django Unchained.
Next up for the 58-year-old is a turn under the direction of Tim Burton in Big Eyes, a drama about painter Margaret Keane, due out later this year.
“Any movie that Tim Burton makes is a Tim Burton movie, but I don’t really accept the branding of people. Tim Burton is an artist, and he changes, sees the world under different auspices as he develops as a person. Everything exists in its own right," he mused.
He can also soon be seen in the second Horrible Bosses movie, and has been busy filming Tarzan.
Despite his impressive body of work, when pressed on what he'd suggest fans should try to catch from his older TV roles, Christoph couldn't think of any.
“I wouldn’t recommend anything. Not because I would want to scare people off, or that I think nothing is worthwhile watching. There are plenty of things that I don’t mind, but there’s nothing that I’m particularly proud of where I would say, ‘You have to see that.’ I just don’t let that thought enter my mind," he said.