Christoph Waltz was left shaken last night after a man pointed a hand-gun at him during a live French news programme TV show and threatened to blow up a studio with a hand grenade.
Cristoph Waltz, who won Oscars for roles in two Quentin Tarantino movies, was being interviewed about Cannes Film Festival on the set of Canal +’s Le Grand Journal Du Festival with fellow actor Daniel Auteuil when two shots were fired.
A recording of the moment shows the audience run away in panic, as security guards rush Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil off stage.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Christoph Waltzt said he feared for his life.
“I was on a panel at the Studio Canal platform off the beach when a man produced a gun.
“I think it was a pistol and he fired but luckily for me they were blanks.
“Then he shouted he had a grenade and again luckily for me there was no grenade.
“The police have him. They tackled him to the ground. I don’t know who he was or where he came from or what his problem was.”
Witness Arthur Laiguesse said: “The bodyguards jumped over the barriers into the crowd and pulled him to the ground. The police arrived and told everyone to run because there was a grenade in his hand.”
Police arrested the man at the scene and found he was carrying a dummy grenade and a knife, authorities said.
“It really appears to be a crazy guy,” said a police source.
Speaking to France 24, Michel Denisot, the programme’s presenter, said: “He said to a woman next to him <<If I were you, I wouldn’t stick around here>>. “There were no bullets in the gun and the grenade was a fake.”
Christoph Waltz revealed what happened after he arrived at the fabled Eden Roc restaurant for a dinner hosted by Charles Finch, the London-based film producer and magazine publisher.
The actor was quite composed and unfazed when he told what had happened to him earlier in the evening.
“I’m fine there’s nothing to worry about now,” Christoph Waltz said.
Christoph Waltz, who has won two best supporting actor Oscars for Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds, and Daniel Auteuil, both of whom are serving on the Cannes jury, returned to the set.
The shooting was the second security incident on day three of the 12-day Cannes Film Festival, the world’s largest cinema showcase that attracts thousands of actors, directors, film executives, journalists and fans.
A police source said $1.4 million worth of Chopard jewellery intended to adorn movie stars had been stolen from a room at the Suite Novotel hotel overnight on Thursday.
But Chopard said the value had been exaggerated and the items were not for actresses to use, declining to give further details.
Actress Robin Wright last night said she had heard rumors of an incident in Cannes.
“I saw ambulances and police but I didn’t know what they were for. It held traffic up but I didn’t know the details till I heard it from Christoph as you just have.”
Christoph Waltz is a festival jury member along with Steven Spielberg and Nicole Kidman.
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