I know Cristoph Waltz is a huge star now with two Oscars under his belt, but you have to realise how insane it was that he was cast as Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds. Until Hollywoods most famous auteur came calling, Waltz was a jobbing method actor who had only appeared in Austrian soaps and TV movies. Nothing said he would be able to dominate a flick like this, and the fact Landa was regarded as one of Tarantinos most unplayable characters makes his accomplishment all the more astounding. Im serious when I say Landa was unplayable Tarantino wanted a suave-yet-brutal German, French, Italian and English speaker, and was having trouble casting the role which would effectively be the lynchpin of his alternate-history epic. He wanted Leo Di Caprio who was unavailable and had rejected more established stars such as Michael Fassbender for the role, who he declared as not f**king German enough, despite Fassbenders German heritage. The bar was set pretty high, and I dont think anyone expected a jobbing and obscure European actor to vault over it with such grace. And my, did he. Landa was a superb creation who won the best supporting actor gong with ease, proving a worthy successor to Heath Ledgers Joker of the year before. Waltz upstaged everyone, from emerging young talent like Melanie Laurent to grand A-listers like Brad Pitt. It was utterly totemic, and absolutely nobody expected it going in.