Deadline reports that Christopher Walken has joined the cast of EDDIE THE EAGLE, hitting theaters in 2016. The actor joins previously announced cast members Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton in the film.
EDDIE THE EAGLE is based on the true story of Britain's first Olympic ski jumper, Michael Edwards "who rose to fame as the very-last-place finisher in two events at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. He left the Games as a scene-stealing poster boy for never-say-die UNDERDOGS everywhere."
Dexter Fletcher will helm the project produced by Matthew Vaughn.
The multi-talented Walken - whose iconoclastic career began on the Broadway stage in musicals - has appeared in more than 100 combined feature films and television shows. He won the Academy Award for his riveting role in the Oscar-winning best picture "The Deer Hunter" and was Oscar-nominated for Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can." He recently appeared as Captain Hook on NBC's PETER PAN LIVE.
Some of his other many memorable film performances include "Sleepy Hollow," "The Dead Zone," "A View to a Kill," "Pulp Fiction," "Wayne's World," "True Romance" and "Annie Hall."
He's also jumped off the screen in a number of film musicals, including "Hairspray," where he performed "(You're) Timeless to Me," and "You Can't Stop the Beat" alongside John Travolta. He danced a show-stopping routine to "Let's Misbehave" in the Steve Martin film "Pennies From Heaven" and is currently seen dancing again in Clint Eastwood's screen version of the smash Broadway hit "Jersey Boys."
For his role in "Hairspray," Walken and his cast won the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. Award, the Hollywood Film Festival Award, the Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival Award and were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Walken received an Emmy Award nomination for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or special for his role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame special "Sarah, Plain and Tall," which co-starred Glenn Close. His many prominent TV credits range from guest-starring on the Emmy Award-winning series "30 Rock" to "American Playhouse."
On the late-night front, Walken has been one of the most popular and anticipated hosts of NBC's venerable institution "Saturday Night Live." He has hosted seven times, performed song-and-dance numbers and shared the stages with some of "SNL's" most beloved cast members.
Walken's theater credits are impressive. He's performed on Broadway in 13 different productions, and was Tony Award-nominated in 2000 for the musical "James Joyce's The Dead" as well as for the 2010 play "A Behanding in Spokane," in which he ironically also played a man with a severed hand.
Walken won the Drama Desk Award for his performance in "Lemon Sky" and the World Theatre World Award for "The Rose Tattoo."
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
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