Christoph Waltz’s Monster Mash: From Battling ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein’ to the Process That Won Him Two Oscars — and What Method Actors Are Doing Wrong

From creating one monster to killing another, Christoph Waltz’s winter has been a horror show.

The 69-year-old Austrian Oscar winner played Henrich Harlander, Victor Frankenstein’s wealthy benefactor, in Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which received nine Oscar nominations in January. He also stars in Luc Besson’s upcoming “Dracula” adaptation, in which he plays Van Helsing to Caleb Landry Jones’ titular bloodsucker.

But while there’s kismet to Waltz appearing in two stylish adaptations of classic monster novels, he admits he didn’t grow up reading either book. “I wasn’t into horror,” Waltz says in accented English. “Both ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Dracula’ are not part of the German-speaking literary canon. So they were mostly movies to me. I was duly impressed by them, but I didn’t lose my self-control.”

There are parallels to be found between Waltz and his scary movies. While Dr. Frankenstein is analytical and ambitious,…