King for a day

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 | 8:14 a.m.

Christopher Walken was 35 in 1978 when he picked up an Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in "The Deer Hunter."

But as recently as as a decade ago, the actor still wasn't convinced of his talent.

"Chris and I were being interviewed for 'True Romance' and a reporter said, 'You two are great actors,' " Dennis Hopper told an audience at the Palms on Tuesday night. "Chris said, 'I don't know if I'm a great actor. I started out as a dancer. Hopper and I are great partners.'

"Chris, you are a great actor and that's why we're honoring you tonight."

Walken received the CineVegas Marquee Award, which recognizes his entire film career, at Brenden Theaters 14, which is hosting the nine-day film festival.

The event was filled to capacity.

On hand to honor their fellow actor were Hopper, Joe Pesci and Laurence Fishburne, who worked with Walken on "King of New York," a 1990 gangster film that was screened at the festival.

Prior to the screening, Hopper, Pesci, Fishburne and Walken participated in a half-hour question-and-answer session moderated by film critic Elvis Mitchell.

The three actors were complimentary of their friend Walken, especially Fishburne.

"My experience working with Christopher was great," he said. "Every time they were ready to roll the cameras, it didn't matter how many times he did a scene, he did it different.

"I came away from my experience on 'King of New York' pumped up."

Sitting on a couch with his colleagues, Walken, sporting a black sports coat with a black shirt and black pants, also fondly recalled working on "King of New York" -- especially with director Abel Ferrara.

"Abel is a very interesting and different in how he does things," Walken said. "He makes his movies with the same small crew of people. He just says, 'Let's go make a movie.' 'Where's the script?' 'We don't need a script.'

"We'd get there in the morning and say, 'Well, what are we gonna do?' And he say, 'Well, we got a body in the trunk.' "

Abel's easygoing approach to filmmaking afforded the actors considerable room to improvise their lines, which Walken appreciated.

"Making movies with him is a lot of fun," he said. "Going to work, you looked forward to it."

Not that the actor would recommend the free-form filmmaking style for other directors.

"It's dangerous to do things that way, but we had a lot of really good people so it worked out," Walken said.

When asked what he looks for in a director, Walken said he prefers a director who doesn't offer many suggestions.

"The best experiences I've had are when the director and I don't talk much. I just know my lines and they let me do it," he said. "Good directors know that about me and about a lot of actors.

"People think actors talk about motivation, but it's always the same thing: girls, restaurants and movies. We talk about movies a lot."

Walken's movie career spans five decades, dating to a bit role in the 1969 film "Me and My Brother."

Oddly enough, acting wasn't Walken's first career choice. The 62-year-old New Yorker was originally trained as a dancer.

In the 1986 film "At Close Range," Walken even improvised a dance move "for no apparent reason."

The director, James Foley, was caught off guard by the actor's surprise jig, but left it in the film.

Walken has since included quick, usually improvised dances in most of his films.

"Training as a dancer, it gets in your body," he said. "You can't get rid of it."

Still, Walken said his trademark cinematic jigs are at an end.

"Everyone expects it now," he said. "I think I did it too much, because everyone mentions it. I don't think I'll do it anymore."

Featured in a variety of main and supporting roles, Walken is known for creating memorable roles in such films as "The Dead Zone," "Biloxi Blues" and "Catch Me if You Can."

"When you look back at the incredible films he's been in over the years, you see what an incredible range he has," said Trevor Groth, director of programming of the CineVegas Film Festival. "The one thing I notice when I look at these films is Christopher Walken."

Perhaps one of Walken's best-known roles, though, is a bit part in "Pulp Fiction."

With only five minutes of screen time, the actor made a lasting impression as Capt. Koons, a former POW who explains the fate of a father to the father's young son, with a well-kept watch serving as a the story's punch line.

"The speech I had in 'Pulp Fiction' was eight pages. In a way, it was easier to start talking and go through it. But I was working on another film at the time, and every time I got to the end (of the speech) and that watch, I would crack up" he said. "That's how I knew it was funny."