Waltz in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds"  (Photo: Douban.com)

He's got two Oscars and is Tarantino's go-to villain or anti-hero. Christoph Waltz is attending this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival. 

CGTN's Shen Li sat down with the actor to talk about his trip to Shanghai, his acting career and his passion for opera music.

CGTN: Mr. Waltz, welcome to Shanghai. So you’re attending the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival. What do you hope to take away from this experience?

Waltz: Great movies by great people. The intention to gather the most interesting projects with the most interesting people is always what counts to make a festival successful, and Shanghai almost always achieves that.

CGTN: I'm also curious to know who is your all-time favorite movie villain because you played a lot.

Waltz: I don't have an all-time favorite of anything. Bela Lugosi was a great Dracula. He has been good as Captain Bligh, probably not. Charles Laughton was fantastic as Captain Bligh. He will be utterly ridiculous as Lex Luther so it depends on the very specific case.

CGTN: I'm just wondering if there is a conscious choice or it just happens (that you play the villain)? 

Waltz: Everything I do it's a conscious choice thank you very much because I don't have to do it. I don't judge. I just look at what can I do, what can I constructively contribute. So that the story I'm interested in is being told properly and accurately and that's the only thing I'm interested in. Whether or not in the end what you call the villain or hero is none of my business really.

CGTN: What drew you to the script?

Waltz: First of all, the story overall and I don't mean the plot, I mean the story. And second, the character within the story and if I see something for me to do, something that I can contribute, then we are already a good step ahead.

CGTN: You have to wait until your mid-50s before finally getting the big break. So how does this late-blooming stardom change your perspective?

Waltz: When you make a big career very early on in your life,  like early when I called 25, that changes your perspective. Once you're an old dog it doesn't change your perspective at all.

CGTN: Do you have any other roles on your bucket list? Anything you would like to try?

W: Generally there are talks here, talks there development, meaning you know. Everybody has ideas but no money. I want to avoid repetition so I don't really have a bucket list. I'm really interested to see how it evolves and good characters are always interesting because they relate to the time we're in. The time changes all the time. To do something I've already done five years ago would be a waste of life, not just of mine but of yours as well.

CGTN: I think that's why you’ve chosen movies like Tim Burton's "Big Eyes" or "The Zero Theorem." 

Waltz: It's the combination of people. You know this conversation that we're having right now is the first call conversation of this kind, of you and me now, it's unique and it will remain unique, and that's what I'm after in parts. It's a combination of topics, people and moment.

CGTN: And you've also worked with director Roman Polanski on the film "Carnage," so tell us about that experience. 

Waltz: He is different from all the other directors because he will be 85 this summer. The man has made movies since he was 18 so there are over 60 years of experience in the movie making.

CGTN: Does he have his way of unique way of (operating)?

Waltz: He's precise like a laser beam. You cannot deviate the man from his plan, not even 1 mm. He’s super precise and he knows it and he knows how to communicate it and he is a true master.

CGTN: It seems that you have a thing for old movies. You once said in an interview that your favorite movie was 8 1/2 by Fellini. Why that movie?

Waltz: That movie I've seen, I don't know, 20, 30 times. Same thing by the way like what we said about the conversation. The moment that you watch the movie, it makes the movie unique even though it is recorded and what is being projected is the same movie with the same thing every time. But you are not the same person, so you see a different movie every time and that's what makes a true classic.

CGTN: So you can step into a river twice.

Waltz: Exactly.

CGTN: So let's talk about another passion of yours: operas and musicals. If you were to recommend a specific work to someone who wants to get initiated in this genre, what would it be?

Waltz: Shorter opera with a nice story, you know, like a Puccini opera, one of the early Mozart operas, even the classical opera at Valdese. That is something nice to get into it, not major ones.