Let Christopher Walken touch a Stonehenge rock, cowards!
The actor attempted to get up close and personal with the monument while filming new series The Outlaws
Christopher Walken has had a long, fulfilling career that shows no signs of stopping and he is beloved around the world. He lives a life gloriously free of email. And yet, the veteran actor is still in pursuit of that one thing that will bring him true contentment. This elusive experience? Touching Stonehenge.
While speaking to Vulture recently, Walken’s co-star in British comedy The Outlaws, Stephen Merchant shares the following story:
We had a day off, and Chris really wanted to go to Stonehenge. We got there, and he went to the woman showing us around: “Can I touch one of the stones?” And she was like, “No.” I took her to one side and said, “He’s 78 years old. He’s an Academy Award winner. He’s Christopher Walken. He’s come 3,000 miles. These things have been here 5,000 years. You can’t just let him touch a stone?” And she’s like, “No. Definitely not.” It was so typically British that even someone like Christopher Walken can’t touch the stones. “Definitely not.” That’s not how we roll in England.
Despite not being allowed to approach the ancient monument, Walken still seemed to have a pretty good time visiting one of England’s most famous landmarks.
“It was really magical,” Merchant recalls. “He found it quite moving to watch the sunset with something as mysterious and exotic as that. It was a surreal moment.”
The Outlaws, which was made by the BBC and is now available on Prime Video in the U.S., follows an unlikely group of petty criminals who are serving their community service sentences together when they suddenly find themselves in over their heads with an organized crime ring. Merchant also co-created The Outlaws with Elgin James (Mayans M.C.) and directed four episodes. The show has already filmed a second season, though a release date has yet to be announced.
Along with The Outlaws, Walken recently had a supporting role on Severance, where he forms half of TV’s cutest couple alongside John Turturro. Merchant starred as the serial killer Stephen Port in the miniseries Four Lives, which aired on the BBC earlier this year.