Muriel Award: Best Supporting Actor
Be honest: You know who’s winning this one. Take a guess - I guarantee you’ll be right. Because this was one hell of a landslide. If you submitted a ballot in this year’s Muriels, you probably voted for this dude. Guess what? So did everyone else. He got five more points than last year’s overwhelming favorite in this category on the same number of ballots. Consider, then, that we actually had four fewer voters this year than last. That right there is a goddamned mandate.
So, without further yammering, I give you:
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds [237 points/32 votes]
“To say that Christoph Waltz ‘humanized’ an SS officer may be an overstatement, but he nonetheless provided a menacing villain with a disarming, almost charming magnetism. Indeed, he presented himself as an officer and a gentlemen; if not for the swastika on his armband and the hateful words peppering his speech, he might have been a professor or a psychiatrist, casually discussing politics or family affairs. That was his specialty, of course, baiting his prey into a vulnerable level of comfort before terminating them with ruthless efficiency.
While Quentin Tarantino deserves the majority of the credit for creating Colonel Hans Landa, it is Waltz who committed himself to the role, embodying the character while preventing him from becoming a caricature. He held his gazes, he paused in his conversations, he smiled, laughed, scowled and screamed, occasionally puffing on his pipe or scarfing down some strudel. The more normal he appeared, the more frightening he became.
Had a different, perhaps more recognizable actor been cast as Landa (IMDb notes that Leonardo DiCaprio was the first choice), it’s likely Inglourious Basterds would have become an entirely different film. But Tarantino must have known he’d struck gold with Waltz, despite his previous boast that he “knew Landa was one of the best characters I’ve ever written…I literally had to consider I might have written an unplayable part.” I recommend braising your shoe before eating it, QT.” - Daniel Getahun
“Experiencing Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds calls to mind the experience of sitting comfortably by a fire, calmly enjoying the fire’s warmth and beauty, hardly noticing the increasing heat until you’re engulfed in flames.
In the vast spectrum of films about the second World War, a fatal flaw that arises time and again is the overconfidence of the Nazis. While confidence or mock-confidence is not an unusual characteristic in the Tarantino oeuvre, Col. Landa is drawn as confident to the point of cockiness. Waltz manages to infuse this confidence with flourishes of charm and calculated wit. Even though he is a ruthless bloodhound for the Nazis and takes pride in his given name of “The Jew Hunter,” Waltz never resembles the brute that the Basterds are. His Landa is enthralled with the artfulness of the chase, with solving mental obstacles, and with the terror he inspires by doing it well. It’s an unforgettable performance by an unknown Austrian actor. In my opinion, Waltz’s mastery actually rises above Quentin Tarantino’s overwritten script, which is full of juicy sequences and dialogue but badly in need of an editor.
Waltz gives Landa’s interrogation methods a disarming nature. His quirky exuberance is at once captivating and effectually terrifying. He laughs and you truly believe he is amused. He offers compliments and you believe he is honestly moved. He is always refined, whether savoring a strudel, drinking a glass of fresh milk or puffing on a pipe. In conversation, he moves elegantly from German to French to English. But the more comfortable he appears, the more unnerved you become, waiting for another shoe to drop. And then, in the midst of mannered politeness, his expression grows chilly, and his queries take on a sinister tone. You have been sucked into his trap, and his legend looms larger.
Yet it is revealed, Landa may not be a monster; rather, he may be a self-serving opportunist. When asked directly, Landa states that is actually a hired detective. It’s a lot of hat-wearing, but Waltz pulls it off flawlessly. His characterization is a career-definer, especially for an unknown Austrian whose talent is undeniable.” - Patrick Williamson
Runners-up:
Peter Capaldi, In the Loop [67/10]
Christian McKay, Me and Orson Welles [55/9]
Jackie Earle Haley, Watchmen [49/9]
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger [43/7]
