Christoph Waltz trains his sights on Water for Elephants

Life continues to imitate art for Christoph Waltz, who stole the show as Nazi colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. Where Landa ended the film with a full military pension and a package of real estate on the island of Nantucket, Waltz appears to have parlayed his appearance into a bona fide Hollywood career. The Austrian actor – previously best known as a journeyman performer on TV soap operas – has signed to star in the Depression-era circus drama Water for Elephants. Waltz will play August, a paranoid schizophrenic animal trainer who serves as a foil for a young veterinary student. Twilight star Robert Pattinson is to play the student, while Reese Witherspoon co-stars as August's abused wife. The film is based on the 2006 bestseller by Sara Gruen and is to be directed by Francis Lawrence. Waltz looks set for a busy few years. In recent months, he has also signed up to star in The Green Hornet for director Michel Gondry and in The Talking Cure, by David Cronenberg. He is currently the bookies' favourite to win the best supporting actor Oscar for his turn in Inglourious Basterds.