LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Brad Pitt gets top billing in Quentin Tarantino 's `` Inglourious Basterds , '' but Austrian actor Christoph Waltz may have turned in the most memorable performance as a Nazi `` Jew Hunter . '' Christoph Waltz attends a special screening of `` Inglourious Basterds '' in New York . Waltz , a 52-year-old veteran of German television , was hardly known outside of Europe , until now . Tarantino , insisting on actors with geographic origins similar to their characters , chose Waltz to play a complex and unforgettable villain : Nazi Col. Hans Landa . Landa mixes charm , humor and intelligence with great cruelty and opportunism as he travels through Tarantino 's unpredictable screenplay . Waltz calls Landa `` one of the great villains in dramatic literature . '' His performance earned Waltz the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival , but the actor credits the writer for creating a `` multifaceted and layered '' character . `` It 's what Quentin [ Tarantino ] has written , and let me tell you , that 's plenty , '' Waltz said . `` Because I could still be sitting there trying to figure out what else is in there . And it 's bottomless . '' The opening scene of `` Inglourious Basterds '' is itself a short film in the style of a spaghetti western , starring Waltz as `` The Jew Hunter . '' Watch the stars of the movie discuss the film » . `` It was pure Tarantino to me in that it blended so many different elements perfectly , of tension and comedy , dialogue and excitement , '' actor B.J . Novak said of the scene . Waltz 's character uses three languages in his encounter with a French dairy farmer who was hiding a Jewish family under his farmhouse floor . `` The feature that makes me such an effective hunter of the Jews is , as opposed to most German soldiers , I can think like a Jew , where they can only think like a German or , more precisely , a German soldier , '' Landa tells the farmer . Landa 's motivation is more complex than the typical Nazi depicted in a past movies . A literature scholar could build a career around studying the character , Waltz said . `` Landa is one of the great villains in dramatic literature from the very beginning , for specific reasons , and it 's a real job to find out the reasons , '' he said . `` You sit there and you study and you study . '' The role provided him `` ample opportunity to show other sides , '' Waltz said . `` That 's the fantastic thing with Landa , is it 's so multifaceted and layered . '' But Waltz said he will be careful about repeating a similar role . `` This is the best villain there is , and now it has to be significantly different for me to consider , '' he said . His three-decades-long acting résumé shows the diversity of his talent . His 1996 portrayal of Roy Black , one of Germany 's most beloved pop stars , earned him one of Germany 's highest acting honors . Waltz , now with a Hollywood agent , hints that scripts are coming his way because of the `` Inglourious Basterds '' exposure . One disadvantage of playing the villain in a Tarantino film is that the director insisted that Waltz not pal around with cast mates while away from the set . `` It might be a good idea not to establish this buddy-buddy situation , to keep everybody on their toes a little bit , '' he said . `` That awkward distance that they kept from me made it easier . '' Pitt , however , did approach him early in the filming , he said . `` The fact that he is one of the biggest stars did n't come into that equation after he eliminated it , '' Waltz said . `` He approached me literally with open arms , and that was that . '' `` Inglourious Basterds '' -- rated R -- hits theaters Friday , August 21 .
Waltz plays Nazi Col. Waltz in Quentin new movie . Performance earned Waltz the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival . His Friday , August 21 acting résumé shows the diversity of his talent . The Nazi television veteran was hardly known outside of Europe , until now .