Christopher Walken

Think about the actor Christopher Walken and you visualize a black-garbed, pale-skinned villain who can make you feel very nervous. He loves playing such roles, and once said: "There is no reason to be a professional villain unless you enjoy doing it." In this podcast episode, HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano point out that Walken actually began his career quite differently as a song-and-dance-oriented New York stage actor; and he occasionally has put his dance shoes back on in such movies as "Pennies from Heaven" (1981) and "Hairspray" (2007). Where the more serious and often downright creepy roles are concerned, Marie and Mike discuss films including "The Deer Hunter" (1978), "The Comfort of Strangers" (1990), "King of New York" (1990) and "Pulp Fiction" (1994).