Christoph Waltz: An Oscar-Nominated Glorious 'Basterd'

Feb. 20, 2010 — -- Quentin Tarantino, one of Hollywood's most influential directors, said his multi-Oscar nominated movie "Inglourious Basterds" would never have been made were it not for a relatively unknown Austrian actor called Christoph Waltz – despite having cast Brad Pitt as the lead.

Tarantino's movie revolves around a hillbilly from the South, Lt. Aldo Raine, played by Pitt, who starts a resistance movement with eight Jewish American soldiers who are dropped behind enemy lines. Waltz plays the charismatic yet sadistic Nazi Colonel Hans "The Jew Hunter" Landa.

Before Tarantino met Waltz, he said he wasn't able to find the perfect actor for the role. The actor had to be not only fluent in at least three languages (the film was shot in English, French and German) but he also had to have a unique mastery of the English language. Tarantino said he got so nervous he nearly pulled the plug on the entire movie until "Christoph, pardon the pun, waltzed into the room," he told ABC News Now's "Popcorn With Peter Travers" last year.

Waltz, who won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival last May, was nominated in February for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. He joins Matt Damon for "Invictus," Woody Harrelson for "The Messenger," Christopher Plummer for "The Last Station" and Stanley Tucci for "The Lovely Bones."

"It took me a long time to say the word Oscar, but after the nomination I thought I might as well start," Waltz said in a recent interview with Travers."