As in Star Wars, Dune has an interplanetary emperor, and as with most similarities between the two universes, it’s probably not a coincidence, given the all-too-obvious influence of Frank Herbert’s novels on George Lucas. But in Denis Vileneuve’s Dune 2, instead of Ian McDiarmid’s lightning-tossing, “unlimited power”-bellowing Palpatine, we get a fantastically understated Christopher Walken as the faded ruler of the known universe, looking bummed out from years of governance, with a vibe not unlike Mitch McConnell’s at his recent farewell press conference. Walken jumped on the phone with Rolling Stone to talk about his interstellar adventure and more.
You chose an amazingly low-key, non-typical approach to play the emperor of the galaxy in a sci-fi extravaganza. How did that develop?
When I was young, I had to play a king in something and an older actor said to me, “You know, don’t worry about it. Let the director tell everybody to treat you like a king, and then you don’t really have to do much.” So I started counting on that, the trappings of the king and his courts. If people say you’re the king, you’re the king. I also remember years ago, I was in Japan on a press tour. And the Emperor was on television making a speech. And I remember he was dressed beautifully, and even though he was speaking to this enormous crowd, he spoke so softly that you had to really pay attention. And I thought, well, if you’re the Emperor, you don’t have to talk too loud. So I suppose I thought about things like that.
I heard you were impressed and maybe a little concerned by the fight scene you witnessed between Austin Butler and Timothee Chalamet.
It was very intense! And they really rehearsed it and got into it. They had knives and it was very choreographed and very skillful, but it was a little scary to watch. Particularly because they would do it and then they’d say, ‘Okay, do it again.’ And so they did it quite a lot. They did it beautifully.
Obviously, Dune has been around as a book since the Sixties. And the David Lynch film came out in the Eighties. Were you a fan?
I saw that film and I quite enjoyed it. And at the time, I think I got a paperback you know, and of course, it was a very, very different kind of take on it.
The first book is famously dense — when I first picked it up as a teenager, I gave up after like 10 pages.
It’s a big book.
Did you in fact, finish it?
I don’t think I did. [Laughs] I’d rather watch the movie.
Not that there should be, but is there any thought of retirement? Do you want to just keep going and going?
Somebody said to me that actors don’t retire. They get retired. So I guess someday the phone will stop ringing and that’ll be it.
Are you currently filming the next season of Severance? You and John Turturro were so great together in season one.
No, no. I think I’m done with Severance. I was set to do a certain number of episodes with John Turturro. And we finished those, I think, last spring. The actors’ strike kind of interfered and we had to cut certain things short. But as far as I know, I’m done with all of my stuff.
Should we be looking forward to that? Is it going to live up to the first season?
I don’t know. You know, I haven’t seen it.
You played the Emperor of the Universe and you just turned 81. Does that make you feel differently about people claiming that Biden is too old to be president at that age?
Yeah, you know, I hear them talking about that. And I think well, I’m the same age as that guy. I think Biden’s kind of terrific and I hope he’s able to keep going. I think that he’s fine.
It would be a shame for you to not host Saturday Night Live at least one more time. Is that something you’d still like to do again?
Last Halloween, I did a kind of a cameo on it. But I don’t know whether hosting the show is the cards. It’s a matter of them asking me.
So if they asked, you’ll be there.
I think so. Yeah.
There’s a wonderful song called “Hackensack” by the band Fountains of Wayne that mentions you. Are you familiar with this?
No.
So the idea is the narrator knows his old schoolmate is famous because he sees her on TV next to you. The line is, [sings] “I saw you talkin’ to Christopher Walken on my TV screen.”
Where would I find that on?
You could definitely find it on YouTube. Is there anything specific that’s still on your sort of wish list for your career? Is there anything you haven’t done that you’d like to do?
I play a lot of strange people. I’d like to play up. You know, a solid citizen, very normal guy. Normal guy, maybe a doctor.
There are so many of your line deliveries that stick in my head. When you did the scan with “the ice is going to break” in The Dead Zone, did it feel special?
I think it was just part of the scene and stuff like that always comes as a surprise. You do something and it turns out to be noticeable. But at the time, no, certainly I never thought that. It happens once in a while. It’s almost like an accident.
But it must fill you with some pride to know that you have many moments like that that will live forever.
Thank you. There’s a couple, you know. I get the watch scene in Pulp Fiction a lot.
Oh yeah. There’s so many. I’m partial to the “there’s two mice” monologue in Catch Me if You Can.
That’s right, the two mice!
