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Thomas Kretschmann

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Thomas Kretschmann
Kretschmann in March 2012
Born (1962-09-08) 8 September 1962 (age 64)
Dessau, Bezirk Halle, East Germany
OccupationsActor, screenwriter, producer
Years active1985–present
PartnerBrittany Rice (2011–present)
Children3

Thomas Kretschmann (pronounced [ˈtoːmas ˈkʁɛtʃman]; born 8 September 1962)[1] is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. Best known for portraying historical or fictional military officers, his notable roles include Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in Stalingrad (1993), Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist (2002), Hermann Fegelein in Downfall (2004), Captain Englehorn in King Kong (2005), Major Otto Remer in Valkyrie (2008), the voice of Professor Z in Cars 2 (2011), and the journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter in A Taxi Driver (2017). He also portrayed Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

Kretschmann has twice been nominated for the Deutscher Fernsehpreis for Best Actor. He is also a European Film Award and Nika Award nominee.

Career

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At the age of 25, he began acting, starring in numerous European films and television series, including Westler in 1985. Then in 1991, Kretschmann was awarded the Max Ophüls Prize for best young actor for his role in Der Mitwisser. He went on to star in his first full-length feature, the 1993 film Stalingrad. He achieved international recognition for his role as sadomasochistic rapist and murderer Alfredo Grossi in Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome.[citation needed]

Although popular in his homeland, Kretschmann did not achieve notice in Hollywood until his role as Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in Roman Polanski's 2002 film The Pianist. In the years since, Kretschmann has often portrayed military officers in films about the Third Reich. In the 2004 film Downfall, Kretschmann played Hermann Fegelein, a Waffen-SS general and brother-in-law to Eva Braun.

Kretschmann made his first appearance on American television in 2003 when he guest starred in two episodes of 24 as Max, a role he would reprise in the 2006 video game adaptation. He later also appeared in Relic Hunter. In 2004, Kretschmann played Timothy Cain, a ruthless Umbrella major, in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. In the same year, he appeared in the French film Immortal with Linda Hardy. The film was notable for its use of a digital backlot and interaction between Computer-generated characters and real actors. In 2005, Kretschmann won a role in Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong, where he worked again with Adrien Brody, with whom he had costarred in The Pianist.[citation needed]

The following year, Kretschmann began to win acclaim for his role in Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story (Rohtenburg in Germany). A psychological thriller, the movie co-stars Keri Russell and was inspired by the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case. It was scheduled for a March 2006 release in Germany, but its showing is under injunction after Meiwes successfully sued to have it banned on grounds of infringement of his personality rights. At the 2006 Festival de Cine de Sitges, Kretschmann shared the Best Actor award for his performance in this film with his co-star Thomas Huber. Kretschmann also shared Best Actor with Huber at the 2007 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival.[citation needed]

In 2008, Kretschmann was hired to voice Johann Krauss in Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. However, after several trials del Toro decided that Kretschmann's voice and the mechanical sound FX to Johann's suit did not mesh well, so the part went to Seth MacFarlane. That same year, he appeared in the action thriller Wanted, alongside Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy.[citation needed] That same year, he starred in the thriller Valkyrie, playing Major Otto Ernst Remer, a Wehrmacht officer who had a key role in stopping the 20 July Plot. Prior to the casting of Tom Cruise, Kretschmann had been considered to play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. Kretschmann also played Adolf Eichmann in a 2007 biographical film.[citation needed]

Thomas Kretschmann (far left) at a press conference for the Film Transsiberian, 2008

2009 saw Kretschmann guest star in the American science-fiction TV drama series FlashForward, as well as a major secondary part in the British biopic The Young Victoria as King Leopold I of Belgium. This film also received three Academy Awards nominations in 2010 for Best Art Direction, Makeup, and won for Costume Design.[2]

The next year he returned to Germany, guest starring as himself in the romantic comedy Rabbit without Ears 2. Kretschmann then moved to Malaysia in the summer to shoot his scenes for the German biopic Jungle Child based on the eponymous bestseller by Sabine Kuegler. The film was released in early 2011. Walt Disney Pictures confirmed in November 2010, that Kretschmann would star as one of the voice talents in the Pixar film Cars 2. The film was released in the United States on 24 June 2011, in the United Kingdom on 22 July and in Germany on 28 July.[3][4][5]

Kretschmann starred as Captain Kurt Brynildson in the 2011–2012 ABC original paranormal/adventure/horror television series The River about a group of people on a mission to find a missing TV explorer in the Amazon.[citation needed]

Kretschmann signed a multi-film contract with Marvel Studios to play Baron Wolfgang von Strucker,[6] and first appeared as the character in a post-credits scene of the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier.[7] He had a larger role as the character in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron.[8]

Kretschmann often re-records his own parts for the German dubs of his screen roles.[9] Aside from acting, Kretschmann has also worked as a fashion model, including a stint as the face for a scent by Hugo Boss.[10]

Filmography

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YearTitleRoleLanguageOther notes
1989Der MitwisserPaulGermanTelevision film
Max Ophüls Prize for Best Young Actor
1992Shining ThroughMan At Zurich StationEnglish 
The Warrior's HeartLieutenant Maximillian LuedtNorwegian
1993StalingradLieutenant Hans von WitzlandGerman 
Die RatteSven 
1994La Reine MargotNançayFrench 
1995DerrickThe Husband of The MurderessGermanTelevision series; Season 22, Episode 4: "Teestunde mit einer Mörderin"
I Love My Daughter's Husband [it]MichaelTelevision film
1996The Stendhal SyndromeAlfredo GrossiItalian 
Marching in Darkness (Marciando nel buio)Gianni Tricarico 
1997RefugeSantosGermanTelevision film
Prince ValiantThagnarEnglish 
1998Ms. DiamondTim KaiserGermanTelevision film
1999Esther: The BibleKing Ahasuerus of PersiaEnglish
Der Tod in deinen AugenBilly TanauerGerman
Der SolistPhilip LanartTelevision series, 4 episodes 1999–2003
2000U-571Kapitänleutnant Günther WassnerEnglish 
2001Hostile TakeoverRobert FernauGerman 
The Knights of the QuestVanni Delle RondiniEnglish 
2002Blade IIEli Damaskinos 
The PianistHauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld 
200324MaxEpisodes: "Day 2: 6:00 a.m.–7:00 a.m." & "Day 2: 7:00 a.m.–8:00 a.m."
2004In Enemy HandsFirst Watch Officer Ludwig Cremer 
ImmortalNikopolFrench
English		 
DownfallSS-Gruppenführer Hermann FegeleinGerman 
Resident Evil: ApocalypseMajor Timothy CainEnglish 
The Karate DogGerberTelevision film
Head in the CloudsMajor Franz Bietrich 
FrankensteinDr. Victor HeliosTelevision film
2005SchneelandAronGerman 
Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul IIEnglishTelevision film
King KongCaptain Englehorn 
King Kong: The Video GameVideo game
2006Grimm LoveOliver HartwinBest Actor, Sitges 2006 (shared with co-star Thomas Huber)  
Best Actor, PiFan 2007 (shared with co-star Thomas Huber)  
The Celestine ProphecyWil 
24: The GameMaxVideo game
2007NextMr. Smith
In TransitMax
EichmannAdolf Eichmann
Bionic WomanThe ManTelevision series (episode one)
Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read MapsPaulGerman
2008WantedCrossEnglish 
TranssiberianKolzak
MogadischuCaptain Jürgen SchumannGermanTelevision film
The Sea Wolf [de]Captain Wolf Larsen
ValkyrieOtto Ernst RemerEnglish
2009The Young VictoriaKing Leopold I of Belgium[11]
King ConquerorArchbishop of Tarragona
Wanted: Weapons of FateCross[12]Video game
FlashForwardStefan KriegerTelevision series
2010The Frontier [de]Maximilian SchnellGermanTelevision film
2011Cars 2Professor ZündappEnglish
German		Voice
The Sinking of the LaconiaAdmiral DönitzTelevision film – BBC Productions
Jungle ChildKlaus KueglerGerman
The CapeGregor The GreatEnglishTelevision series
Hostel: Part IIIFlemmingDirect-to-DVD
What a ManJensGerman
2012Dracula 3DDraculaEnglish
The RiverCaptain Kurt BrynildsonTelevision series
2013DraculaAbraham Van HelsingTelevision series
StalingradPeter KahnRussian, German
Open GraveLukasEnglish
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to EdenFriedrich RitterNarration/voice
2014PlasticMarcel
United PassionsHorst Dassler
Captain America: The Winter SoldierBaron Wolfgang von StruckerUncredited cameo; mid-credits scene
2015Avengers: Age of Ultron
Hitman: Agent 47Le Clerq
SpectreHannes OberhauserPhotograph only
2016Whiskey Tango FoxtrotAirplane Passenger
Central IntelligenceThe Buyer
StrattonGrigory Barovsky
2017The Blue MauritiusHoltz
The SaintRayt Marius
JungleKarl
A Taxi DriverJürgen Hinzpeter / PeterKorean German
Berlin StationOtto GanzEnglishTV series
2018Dragged Across ConcreteLorentz Vogelmann
BalloonOberstleutnant SeidelGerman
LoreInspector Georg ReingruberEnglishTV series
DiscarnateDr. Andre Mason
2019Project Blue BookWernher von BraunTV series
2020Waiting for AnyaNazi CorporalGerman
WestworldGeraldEnglishTV series
Das BootFriedrich BergerGerman
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels[13]HossEnglish
GreyhoundCaptain of The U-Boat Grey Wolf
2021American Traitor: The Trial of Axis SallyJoseph Goebbels
BiohackersBaron Von FürstenbergGermanTV series, season 2
2023Infinity PoolDetective ThreshEnglish
Last SentinelSergeant Hendrich
Indiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyColonel Weber
Gran TurismoPatrice Capa
Deliver UsFather Saul
2024American Star
Upgraded
Putin
TBA Samo Lives Post-production[14]

Awards

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References

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  1. ↑ Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim, eds. (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York City, New York: Berghahn Books. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-857-45565-9.
  2. ↑ "Oscar.com: Nominations". Academy Awards. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "Pixar says Cars 2 is still due in cinemas in June 2011". BBC News. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  4. ↑ Sciretta, Peter (7 March 2011). "Cars 2 Trailer". SlashFilm. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Cars 2 at FilmStarts
  6. ↑ Couto, Anthony (3 March 2014). "Baron von Strucker Actor Discusses His Avengers 2 Role, Multi-Picture Deal". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  7. ↑ McWeeny, Drew (21 March 2014). "Review: Captain America meets his match in the smart and stylish 'Winter Soldier'". HitFix. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Kit, Borys (15 January 2014). "'Dracula' Actor to Play Villain in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. ↑ "Thomas Kretschmann". Deutsche Synchronkartei. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Tiempo, Redaccion El (28 June 2006). "El actor Thomas Kretschmann se transformó para ser la imagen de una fragancia de Hugo Boss". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2026.
  11. ↑ BBC – Lincolnshire – Features – Filming At Lincoln Cathedral: Young Victoria
  12. ↑ Orry, James (6 February 2009). "Wanted gets Hollywood voice cast". VideoGamer. Retrieved 7 February 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ↑ "Penny Dreadful: Conociendo a Magda, el personaje de Natalie Dormer". Vandal Random (in Spanish). 20 April 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  14. ↑ Grobar, Matt (21 October 2025). "Danny Ramirez, Dane DeHaan, Kathryn Newton, Lukas Gage, Chase Sui Wonders, Antony Starr, Jeffrey Wright & More Join Jean-Michel Basquiat Biopic 'Samo Lives'". Deadline. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
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