Christoph Waltz has kicked off the 85th annual Academy Awards much like he did the 82nd annual Academy Awards: by taking to the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The “Django Unchained” star came out on top in a fiercely contested category featuring veterans like Alan Arkin (“Argo”), Robert De Niro (“Silver Linings Playbook”) and Tommy lee Jones (“Lincoln”).

“Mr. De Niro, Mr. Arkin, Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Jones, my respect,” Waltz said from the stage of the Dolby Theatre. “My unlimited gratitude goes to Dr. King Schultz. That is, of course, to his creator and the creator of his awe-inspiring world, Quentin Tarantino.”

Waltz previously won for Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” the film that launched him into the public eye in 2009, at least on these shores.

Back in December, when Tarantino’s violent revisionist western was set to hit screens nationwide, Waltz praised the writer/director’s “Baroque” way with language to HitFix.

“There’s an old saying that words are sharper than knives…especially when it comes to this topic,” he said at the time. “Words are being used as weapons. The injury inflicted by a word does not heel. So we have to guard our language. Quentin’s words are Baroque poetry, and if you understand that, you have a very direct way into them. You don’t have to tinker with them. All you need to do is let them live.”

“Django Unchained” is up for four other Oscars this evening, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.