Christoph Waltz denies he is playing Blofeld in 'SPECTRE'

06-Apr-2015 • Spectre (2015)

Actor Christoph Waltz has denied he's playing Blofeld in the upcoming James Bond film 'SPECTRE' and insists his character is called Franz Oberhauser.

That may be technically true, but the statement is contrary to all of the commentary on the script leaks and script notes that emerged during the Sony hack late last year.

Furthermore, it was officially denied that Ben Whishaw would play Q in 'Skyfall' and Naomie Harris was not playing the character of Miss Moneypenny. Both, of course, were. And for the pedants out there, Daniel Craig could have claimed he wasn't playing 007 for the first 10 minutes of 'Casino Royale'.

Here are some quotes from the interview with Christoph Waltz in the new issue of British GQ:

On whether he hesitated in doing a Bond film:
"I did, yes. I always hesitate... You ask yourself, hang on: what James Bond are we talking about? The thing about Spectre is that it is not the work of hack writers. It does not have a hack director. The actors are not hams. The action sequences in Mexico are extravagant to say the least. The scenes in Austria are traditional Bond action in the snow. These films with Daniel Craig have shifted the tone. They don't depend on a set formula that forces actors simply to go through the motions."

On whether he is playing the classic Bond villain Blofeld:
"That is absolutely untrue. That rumour started on the Internet, and the Internet is a pest. The name of my character is Franz Oberhauser."

On whether a Bond film can be artistically fulfilling:
"A James Bond film can be artistically fulfilling. Absolutely it can. It can be complex and it can be interesting. I consider Bond movies to be an extension of popular theatre, a kind of modern mythology. You see the same sort of action in Punch and Judy, or in the folk theatre of various cultures, like Grand Guignol."