Eli Roth of “Inglourious Basterds”

Eli Roth, Hostel director and Inglourious Basterds star, discusses how Iron Maiden and Hannah Montana sent him to his “psycho place” and prepared him for WWII in this exclusive ARTISTdirect.com playlist feature…

A Taste:

The Misfits, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Hannah Montana

Being from Boston, Eli Roth is naturally pretty good with a baseball bat. That’s why his Basterd, Sgt. Donny Donowitz, brandishes one in Quentin Tarantino’s WWII masterpiece Inglourious Basterds. Instead of cracking homeruns out of Fenway Park, Donowitz cracks skulls behind enemy lines.

The bat was Roth’s touch for the character too. Smiling, he laughs, “Everybody in Boston has a bat in the car for traffic confrontations. In that city, you really feel like you’re going to get your ass kicked every five minutes [Laughs].”

That’s why Roth’s Beantown basher in Basterds is constantly ready for war and pursuing this goal of complete violent apotheosis—in the most classical yet bloody fashion. Roth continues, “Donny was always there to become this hero. He wants fight on behalf of those that can’t fight. He just wants to kill them but he knows he’s the strongest one. Brad [Pitt] and I were in character all the time. We never broke it. The movie gave us permission to act like that all the time.”

One thing that he didn’t have to add to the character was the Boston accent though. “It drives me crazy when there are bad Boston accents in movies,” the auteur and actor laughs “To be a Jewish badass from Boston, I was like, ‘This is my chance!’ I went back there, hung out at Revere Beach, lifted weights and put on 40lbs of muscle for the part. I went crazy. I put everything I had into it.”

He also cranked a lot of music to prepare for the role, and his playlist might surprise you. Check out Roth’s playlist below in this video and don’t miss Inglourious Basterds this Friday August 21.

Eli Roth’s Playlist:

1. The Misfits
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Diane Kruger of “Inglourious Basterds”

Diane Kruger of Inglourious Basterds shares her playlist with ARTISTdirect.com in this exclusive feature…

A Taste:

David Bowie, Nina Simone, Coldplay, Bach

Diane Kruger gives one of the most intriguing screen performances of this year. In Inglourious Basterds, she breathes life into actress-turned-double-agent Bridget Von Hammersmark. In a character turn that’d make Hitchcock’s head spin, Kruger is playing an actress playing a spy. The stunning Kruger manages to pull it all off flawlessly too—giving every aspect of Bridget equal attention.

“It’s fun to play that kind of actress,” she explains. “The ’40s were such a fabulous time for women. When you watch movies from the ’40s, acting was different back then. Bridget’s a commanding presence. The most fun part was getting down and dirty with the boys. You get to see the real Bridget and you get to see her unravel.”

Kruger’s got quite an eclectic musical palette too.

She gave ARTISTdirect.com an exclusive look at her playlist in this feature. Check out Diane’s playlist in the video below and don’t miss her in Inglourious Basterds this Friday August 21st.

Diane Kruger’s Playlist:

1. David Bowie — “Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)”

That David Bowie song from Basterds is on my playlist. It’s fantastic. It stays with you.

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B.J. Novak of “Inglourious Basterds”

Inglourious Basterds‘ B.J. Novak shares his playlist with ARTISTdirect.com in this exclusive feature…

A Taste:

David Bowie, Grindhouse Soundtrack, LCD Soundsystem

“Hunting Nazis is a good job if you can get it,” says B.J. Novak with a big smile.

Novak had the pleasure of popping off rounds at those Nazi scumbags in Quentin Tarantino’s WWII epic Inglourious Basterds. In the film, he’s a member of the eponymous unit charged with scalping the enemy and going right for the head honcho himself, Hitler. As PFC Utivich, The Office star definitely got the rhythm of scalping and murdering Nazis down to a science.

However, he had a solid selection of music on his iPod to help him get in to the “scalpin’ mood.”

“I actually have stolen a lot of songs from Quentin Tarantino,” he says. “I got into the Grindhouse soundtrack a lot when we were filming this movie. I also really listened to some of the songs that I knew were going to be in this movie like the David Bowie song ‘Cat People (Putting Out the Fire.’ I put that on my iPod.”

Novak opened up his playlist for ARTISTdirect.com in this exclusive feature. It’s definitely influenced by Mr. Tarantino! Check out Novak’s playlist in the video below and don’t miss him in Inglourious Basterds, Friday August 21.

B.J. Novak’s Playlist:

1. Soundtrack — Grindhouse

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Christoph Waltz of “Inglourious Basterds”

Christoph Waltz of Inglourious Basterds gives ARTISTdirect.com a look at some of his favorite classical music composers in this exclusive playlist feature…

A Taste:

Strauss, Möller, Mozart

Classical music can be pretty evil.

Some of those symphonies and sonatas are so epic that they’re scary.

For Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, actor and classical music aficionado Christoph Waltz became one of the most sinister screen villains of the past decade, Nazi Col. Hans Landa. Nicknamed “The Jew Hunter,” the character’s entire life revolves around hunting his prey with no remorse, regret or regard. Waltz gives Landa a wicked sense of humor that makes him instantly unforgettable.

“I listen to music all the time,” says Waltz. “Rhythm is not just in music. It’s life. How we communicate is basically rhythm—how we throw back and forth and tune into each other’s intentions. I don’t apply specific pieces of music to specific moments in preparing a role, but maybe I should try that [Laughs].”

Christoph shared some his favorite composers with ARTISTdirect.com for this exclusive feature. Check it out below in the video and don’t miss him in Inglourious Basterds this Friday August 21!

Christoph Waltz’s Playlist:

1. Strauss

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