The Big Picture

Luc Besson & two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz join creative forces in the upcoming horror-romance
Dracula: A Love Tale.

The classic story follows a 15th-century prince who becomes a vampire, passionatley pursuing a woman resembling his late wife in 19th-century London.
Waltz discusses preparing for his role as a vampire-hunting priest and praises director Luc Besson’s unique vision for Dracula.

Imagine if the acclaimed director of Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element and two-time Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz, of Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, joined creative forces to adapt one of the most popular horror novels of all time. Starring Caleb Landry Jones (DogMan), Luc Besson’s upcoming horror-romance, Dracula: A Love Tale, reimagines Bram Stoker’s Gothic classic as a doomed love story.

In A Love Tale, a 15th-century prince, Vlad of Wallachia (Jones), renounces God after the death of his wife, Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu Sidel). Now damned for turning his back on God, cursed to walk the earth as a vampire, the man who became Dracula searches through time for his lost love. In the film, Waltz plays the vampire-hunting priest in pursuit of the fabled fanged Count.

While on an exclusive set visit in near Paris, Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down to talk with Waltz on the floor of Dracula: A Love Tale’s ornamental crypt set. During this interview, which you can watch in the video above or read below, the actor discusses why he was thrilled to work with Besson on a story he believes needs a more modern retelling. Waltz also talks about working with the cast, how he likes to operate on set, how he prepares for roles, and so much more.

How Christoph Waltz Prepares on the Set of Dracula: A Love Tale.
Image via Virginie Besson-Silla

COLLIDER: How are you doing today, sir?

CHRISTOPH WALTZ: Good. This is, you know, this is about lunch. Shooting in France is about lunch.

I’ve done a lot of set visits, but this is the first time I went over to the craft service table, and there was a bag filled with baguettes. I’m like, “O h, this is what it’s like to film in France.”

WALTZ: Well, the craft table is much better in America, but lunch is a French thing. Everybody eats together, sitting down at tables and being civilized. I appreciate that.

I will agree with exactly what you said. Crafty in America is why everyone is obese. [Laughs]

WALTZ: Yeah. [Makes sloppy eating sounds] No, you sit down, you say, “Could you pass the water? Thank you very much.” “Would you take with bubbles or without bubbles?” I think it’s nice.

I completely agree. We’re on set right now with Luc Besson’s Dracula: A Love Tale . It is very rare for me to get to talk to actors on an amazing set like this. Have you seen this crypt yet, or are you seeing it for the first time?

WALTZ: I’ve seen it. I like to get an idea of what I’m getting into. Some people like to be surprised, and maybe it works for them. It works for me to think about stuff. I like to see it, then I have an impression, and then I can form my fantasy. I can riff on that.

Luc Besson Is Bringing a New Angle to an Old Story
“The novel is a drag. It’s boring, it’s flat.”
Image via Deadline

What was it about this script and story that said, “I need to be in this?”

WALTZ: Well, I don’t need to at all. I think that’s an important prerequisite. It’s a free country still, and you can always say no. Basically, the actor’s choice is a binary one: yes or no. But I wanted to work with Luc and this angle on Dracula. I read the novel; I really think the novel is a drag. It’s boring, it’s flat. It’s popular because it was popular in the late 19th century. We’re kind of reverting to that. We’ve abandoned modernity and gone back into the Victorian age — some of us back into the Dark Ages. Anyway, that’s a different discussion. There have been Dracula movies before. It needs to be seen clearly, but I wanted to work with Luc and Luc’s — it’s more than an angle, it’s more than an approach — Luc’s idea of the vision of the story is that Dracula is a love story. So, that’s wonderful.

What can you tease about your version of the priest, your character, and how he interacts with Dracula?

WALTZ: That’s the thing that always puts me in a tight corner because I don’t like to talk about the characters I’m playing. I’m still in the process of merging my ideas and my fantasy with an action that can be filmed. In a way, talking about it is such an exterior perspective that it kind of throws me. I’m not there to have an opinion about something, I’m just an actor. I’m there to do it. So the author needs to report on that.

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What are you doing before stepping on set on day one to get yourself in the mindset of the character and to be able to collaborate with Luc?

WALTZ: I try to get into my own mindset a little bit; it needs to be specific. It needs to be precise. It needs to be thought of. It’s very popular to talk about improvisation and feeling the vibe and all that. It’s not my cup of tea. I like to know what it is, I like to know what the intentions are, and I like to know where it’s supposed to go. I adore working mechanics dramatically. I get excited about that! How does one result in the next? How does the end refer to the beginning? Stuff like that excites me. For example, you read the novel, and then you say, “Well, maybe I shouldn’t have read the novel.” [Laughs] In the end, it’s the script. In the end, it needs to work on paper before it can work on film.

How early before you step on set are you actually memorizing lines and getting all that stuff ready, and how much do you save for right before you’re getting ready to film?

WALTZ: I like to know the lines because it’s a lot of stress not to know the lines. If it’s only for that, that’s enough reason. But the writer thinks about this stuff. Apart from the fact that I find it disruptive to not know the lines, I find it fairly disrespectful to the writer. It’s not my job to do better than the writer, correct the writer, or have other ideas. When I say the actor’s choice is binary, yes or no, I get the script. If I say yes, the script is the reason why I say yes, not, “Maybe I can riff on that a little bit and come up with something better.” Write a script. What’s wrong with that?

Christoph Waltz Says Two Iconic Monster Movies Wasn’t Planned
“It’s a little ridiculous,” he says of starring in Dracula: A Love Story and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.
Image via Annamaria Ward

This year, and I find this so amazing, is you are doing two iconic book [adaptations]. You’re doing Frankenstein with Guillermo del Toro and Dracula with Luc Besson, which is incredible. What is it like to appear in both of these iconic works of literature in the same year?

WALTZ: To be perfectly frank — and don’t give me away — it’s a little ridiculous. [Laughs] But it’s fun! It wasn’t engineered, it wasn’t planned. There was no scheme behind it, no strategy. It just happened that way. I find it amusing.

It’s really incredible. You’ve worked with such gifted directors and what I’m fascinated by is how there’s no right way to make a movie.

WALTZ: I agree.

Christoph Waltz Won’t Compare Luc Besson to Guillermo del Toro or Quentin Tarantino
“But there’s one unifying thing…”
Image via Virginie Besson-Silla

Everyone works differently, but they still come up with masterpieces. What is it about Luc Besson that makes him unique as a filmmaker compared to Del Toro or Quentin [Tarantino]?

WALTZ: I always think comparing directors or comparing actors or comparing people, really, is a little unfair because, of course, they are all individuals. Every single pedestrian, every single actor, every single director. They have their method and their vibe, if you want, their specific energy that makes them unique. It’s a little bit like the old apple and oranges comparison. But there’s one unifying thing: they all make movies. Luc has a very specifically French [energy], which I admire and enjoy a lot. He is not in any way — forgive me for calling it such — corrupted by Hollywood mainstream. He’s a commercial filmmaker, he’s not an arthouse auteur kind of thing, even though he writes a script, he produces the movie, he directs it, he operates the camera. It’s his push and his energy. My first two weeks of the shoot were something I’ve never experienced before — the drive, the energy behind it, and the tempo. So you don’t have time in between takes to contemplate the esoteric levels of your existence. Get on with it! Do it. [Laughs] That’s absolutely up my alley.

That’s one thing about Luc I’ve heard is that he works very fast.

WALTZ: Very fast. Sometimes it’s like, “Hang on one second. I may need a moment to just readjust something.” Well, you either do it or not. You have to do it on the spot. But he’s not pushing you. He’s not driving you. It’s just his tempo. If you want another take, you do another take. If you want a second, you get the second. Until you complain, it’s going his way. [Laughs] But he’s very open to your complaints, so I’m happy.

When you saw the shooting schedule, did you have any days circled in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this” or “How am I going to film this?”

WALTZ: No. I would have as a director, but as an actor, you assume there are reasons for the way the schedule is. So I don’t circle schedules because they change anyway.

Can you talk about what it’s been like collaborating with the rest of the cast?

WALTZ: Actors immediately fall into this modus operandi because it’s a necessity. Of course, you can play that you’re exclusive and an exception, and you withdraw to your trailer. Yeah, you can do that. Sometimes it’s necessary — you don’t want to hear other people’s thoughts and stories — but for short set changes, scene changes, light changes, it’s okay. We sit together. I am one of these people who adapt to the necessity because you could also contradict and oppose. It’ll cost you a lot of energy. It’ll throw you more than listening to silly stories from other movies. You learn how to switch off your ears, and it doesn’t interfere with what you call camaraderie. I don’t think camaraderie is necessary. Constructive collaboration is really sufficient.

What are you most looking forward to audiences seeing with this film?

WALTZ: Not only do I not know, I haven’t thought about it either. I can tell you what I am most looking forward to apart from the cut and how it all fits together: I want to hear Danny Elfman’s music!

Luc was talking about Billie Eilish and how he’s been influenced by her and Phineas’ music and the mood. So it’s interesting.

WALTZ: To a degree. [Laughs]

Dracula: A Love Tale comes to theaters in 2025.

Images via Virginie Besson-Silla