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Why This Actor Almost Couldn’t Watch His New Show

Photo from Glenn Carstens Peters on Unsplash

Why This Actor Almost Couldn’t Watch His New Show

By Movieguide® Contributor

Oscar-winning actor Christopher Walken explained why he doesn’t use technology and the impact that has had on his life and his career.

“I don’t have technology. I only have a satellite dish on my house…I don’t have a cellphone. I’ve never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered,” Walken told The Wall Street Journal, explaining that his decision to live like that has never been a problem. “I’ve never had a watch either. But if I need the time, I just ask somebody. Likewise, once in a while when I need to use a phone, I just ask if I can borrow one.”

His frustration with technology caused him to leave stage acting after he noticed audiences were distracted by their phones during the performance.

“Then again, even the last time I was on stage [in 2010 in Martin McDonagh’s ‘A Behanding in Spokane’], phones rang in the theater, people answered them,” he recalled. “If not that, they’re taking a video of your performance. I thought, that’s it, it’s over. I can’t do it anymore.”

Choosing to live without technology, however, does have one downside for Walken. Since almost everything is made for streaming, he cannot watch his shows and movies the same way as everyone else. For his performance in SEVERANCE, an Apple TV+ show, Apple had to accommodate him so he could watch the first season.

“So, I’ve seen SEVERANCE on DVDs that [Apple] was good enough to send me,” he shared.

Despite his indifference towards modern technology  something that is emphasized in SEVERANCE — Walken enjoyed working on the show because it gave him a chance to play an interesting role while working with other actors he enjoys.

“In a way, playing Burt was easier than a lot of the things I do,” Walken said. “Burt was a guy who had a good job that he loved and he didn’t have a lot of problems. Kind of like me!”

“[SEVERANCE] was a very special job,” he continued. “It was mysterious, but funny and scary, which I’ve always felt was a good combination. Then there was the fact of [series director] Ben Stiller. I was in a play with him 30 years ago, and his mother and father were friends of mine. There’s John Turturro. I’ve known him for 40 years and we were young actors together. When you know somebody for a  long time, it shows. You can tell the actors like each other.”

Stiller, SEVERANCE’s director, has a no-phone policy on set, which is perfect for Walken.

“No phones anywhere near the eyeshot of the actors at all,” he stated. “My least favorite thing is to see a dolly grip guy hunched down while an actor is acting their brains out, and he’s scrolling or whatever…It drives me crazy…As a director, you want to protect that environment for the actors.”

Walken isn’t the only old-school actor who has refused to take up modern technology. Last year, Tom Selleck made a similar confession, admitting that he has never sent an email and he wrote his entire autobiography by hand.

READ MORE: WHY TOM SELLECK WROTE HIS ENTIRE MEMOIR BY HAND


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