Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Christopher Walken Freaked Out By The Internet
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 12, 2010
Modified Apr 12, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 12, 2010
Modified Apr 12, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
According to actor Sam Rockwell, currently starring on Broadway with Christopher Walken, "we all do impersonations of Chris these days, every actor has a Chris Walken impersonation." And in this week's New Yorker, it sounds as if Walken doesn't really get all of that.
Writer Peter Stevenson drives around Queens with Walken, who was born and raised in Astoria, checking out his old neighborhood. He greets the new tenants at his childhood home in an expressly Walken-esque manner (“Hello, my name is Chris Walken,” he said. “This is very nice of you. When I was little, I used to have my diaper changed on the kitchen table here.”), shares his first memory ("...I was a couple of months old. And I turned my head and right next to me was a white plate with scrambled eggs on it. I can still see it.”), and admits to having never seen an episode of Seinfeld.
And he's freaked out by the Internet—he doesn't use a computer, but he has begun investigating it. “The Internet is strange,” he said. “There’s stuff on the Internet about me. I’ve tried to find out who puts it there. Something about how I go around to hot-dog festivals, that I’m a champion hot-dog eater.” He's probably referring to an Onion article, which makes it even funnier, especially because it's been re-printed on the Internet by people who really think Walken wrote it, and includes lines such as, "I carry a bag of hot dogs with me wherever I go. I eat them from the bag whenever I get the urge, regardless of the circumstances. When I make a movie, my hot dogs are my co-stars."
Tagged
astoria
chris walken
hot dogs
new yorker
queens
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .