Thomas Kretschmann
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Thomas Kretschmann | |
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.jpg) Kretschmann with Brittany Rice, at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, on 9 February 2012 | |
| Born | 8 September 1962 |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | ThomasKretschmann |
Thomas Kretschmann (pronounced [ˈtoːmas ˈkʁɛtʃman]; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor. He played Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in the 1993 film Stalingrad, Hauptmann Peter Kahn in the 2013 film Stalingrad, Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist, Hermann Fegelein in Downfall, Major Otto Remer in the 2008 film Valkyrie, and Captain Englehorn in the 2005 remake of King Kong, and voiced Professor Z in Cars 2. He appeared as Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in Marvel Studios' Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Early life and education
Kretschmann was born in Dessau, East Germany, on 8 September 1962. Before he became an actor, Kretschmann trained to become an Olympic swimmer. At the age of 19, he fled East Germany and began a month-long trek to West Germany to escape the East German state. During this trek, part of his finger was lost but surgically reattached. Kretschmann crossed four borders (Hungary, Yugoslavia and Austria) with nothing other than his passport and the equivalent of $100 in his possession.[1]
Career
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/murderer Alfredo Grossi in Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome.
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. In the 2008 thriller Valkyrie, Kretschmann played 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 attached to play Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
Kretschmann also played Adolf Eichmann in a 2007 biographical film.
Kretschmann made his first appearance on American television in 2003 when he guest starred in 2 episodes of 24. 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 costarred in The Pianist.
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 Persönlichkeitsrecht (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.
In 2008 Kretschmann was hired for the role of 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.
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 Production 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.
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 movie Avengers: Age of Ultron.[8]
For the German dubs of movies and television shows he stars in, Kretschmann often dubs his parts himself.[9]
Aside from acting Kretschmann has also worked as a fashion model, including a stint as the face for a scent by Hugo Boss.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Der Mitwisser | Paul | German | Television film Max Ophüls Prize for Best Young Actor |
| 1992 | Shining Through | Man at Zurich Station | English | |
| The Warrior's Heart | Lt. Maximillian Luedt | Norwegian | ||
| 1993 | Stalingrad | Leutnant Hans von Witzland | German | |
| Die Ratte | Sven | German | ||
| 1994 | La Reine Margot | Nançay | French | |
| 1995 | Derrick, Season 22, Episode 4: Teestunde mit einer Mörderin | The Husband of the Murderess | German | Television |
| 1996 | The Stendhal Syndrome | Alfredo Grossi | Italian | |
| Marching in Darkness (Marciando nel buio) | Gianni Tricarico | Italian | ||
| 1997 | Prince Valiant | Thagnar | English | |
| 1999 | Esther: The Bible | King Ahasuerus of Persia | English | Television film |
| Der Solist | Philip Lanart | German | Television series, 4 episodes 1999–2003 | |
| 2000 | U-571 | Kapitänleutnant Günther Wassner | English | |
| 2001 | Feindliche Übernahme – althan.com | Robert Fernau | German | |
| 2001 | The Knights of the Quest | Vanni Delle Rondini | English | |
| 2002 | Blade II | Eli Damaskinos | English | |
| The Pianist | Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld | English | ||
| 2003 | 24 | Max | English | Episodes: "Day 2: 6:00 a.m.–7:00 a.m." & "Day 2: 7:00 a.m.–8:00 a.m." |
| 2004 | In Enemy Hands | First Watch Officer Ludwig Cremer | English | |
| Immortal | Nikopol | French | ||
| Downfall | SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein | German | ||
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | Major Timothy Cain | English | ||
| The Karate Dog | Gerber | English | Television film | |
| Head in the Clouds | Major Franz Bietrich | English | ||
| Frankenstein | Victor Helios | English | Television film | |
| 2005 | Schneeland | Aron | German | |
| Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II | Pope John Paul II | English | Miniseries | |
| Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie | Captain Englehorn | English | Video game | |
| King Kong | Captain Englehorn | English | ||
| 2006 | Grimm Love | Oliver Hartwin | English | Best Actor, Sitges 2006 (shared with co-star Thomas Huber) Best Actor, PiFan 2007 (shared with co-star Thomas Huber) |
| The Celestine Prophecy | Wil | English | ||
| 24: The Game | Max | English | Video game | |
| 2007 | Next | Mr. Smith | English | |
| In Transit | Max | English | ||
| Eichmann | Adolf Eichmann | English | ||
| Bionic Woman | The Man | English | Television series (episode one) | |
| Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps | Paul | German | ||
| 2008 | Wanted | Cross | English | |
| Transsiberian | Kolzak | English | ||
| Mogadischu | Captain Jürgen Schumann | German | Television film | |
| Der Seewolf | Captain Wolf Larsen | German | Television film | |
| Valkyrie | Otto Ernst Remer | English | ||
| 2009 | The Young Victoria | King Leopold I of Belgium[10] | English | |
| King Conqueror | Archbishop of Tarragona | English | ||
| Wanted: Weapons of Fate | Cross[11] | English | Video game | |
| FlashForward | Stefan Krieger | English | Television series | |
| 2010 | The Nazi Officer's Wife | Kapitänleutnant Günther Wassner [citation needed] | English | |
| Dare to Love Me | Mariano | |||
| Total Reality | Commander Tunis | English | Television film | |
| 2011 | Cars 2 | Professor Zündapp | English | Voice |
| The Sinking of the Laconia | Admiral Dönitz | English German |
Television film – BBC Productions | |
| Jungle Child | Klaus Kuegler | German | ||
| The Cape | Gregor the Great | English | Television series | |
| Hostel: Part III | Flemming | English | Direct-to-DVD | |
| What a Man | Jens | German | ||
| 2012 | Dracula 3D | Dracula | English | |
| The River | Captain Kurt Brynildson | English | Television series | |
| 2013 | Dracula | Abraham Van Helsing | English | Television series |
| Stalingrad | Peter Kahn | Russian | ||
| Open Grave | Lukas | English | ||
| The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden | Friedrich Ritter | English | Narration/voice | |
| 2014 | Plastic | Marcel | English | |
| United Passions | Horst Dassler | English | ||
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Baron Wolfgang von Strucker | English | Mid-credits scene cameo | |
| 2015 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | English | ||
| Hitman: Agent 47 | Le Clerq | English | ||
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Airplane Passenger | English | |
| Central Intelligence | The Buyer | English | ||
| Stratton | Grigory Barovsky | English | ||
| Discarnate | English | |||
| 2017 | The Blue Mauritius | Holtz | English | |
| Jungle | Karl | English | ||
| A Taxi Driver | Jürgen Hinzpeter ("Peter") | Korean | ||
| Berlin Station | Otto Ganz | English | TV series | |
| 2019 | Dragged Across Concrete | Lorentz Vogelmann | English |
Awards
- Best Young Actor (Der Mitwisser), Max Ophüls Festival, 1991
- Best Actor (Rohtenburg), Sitges – Catalan International Film Festival, 2006
- Best Actor (Rohtenburg), Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festivalm, 2007
References
- ^ de:Thomas Kretschmann
- ^ "Oscar.com: Nominations". Academy Awards. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- ^ "Pixar says Cars 2 is still due in cinemas in June 2011". BBC News. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
- ^ Sciretta, Peter (7 March 2011). "Cars 2 Trailer". SlashFilm. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ Cars 2 at FilmStarts
- ^ Couto, Anthony (3 March 2014). "Baron von Strucker Actor Discusses His Avengers 2 Role, Multi-Picture Deal". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Kit, Borys (15 January 2014). "'Dracula' Actor to Play Villain in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 15 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "Thomas Kretschmann". Deutsche Synchronkartei. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- ^ BBC – Lincolnshire – Features – Filming At Lincoln Cathedral: Young Victoria
- ^ Orry, James (6 February 2009). "Wanted gets Hollywood voice cast". VideoGamer. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
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