Thomas Kretschmann: Biography, Movies & Photos

Thomas Kretschmann: Biography, Movies & Photos — RecapFlicks

Trivia

1Received the Max Ophüls Prize for best young actor in 1991.
2Started working as an actor at the age of 25, after being trained to be an Olympic swimmer.
3Has played a German nazi officer in 13 different, completely unrelated films: The Warrior's Heart (1992), Stalingrad (1993), U-571 (2000), The Pianist (2002), In Enemy Hands (2004), Downfall (2004), Head in the Clouds (2004), Eichmann (2007), Valkyrie (2008), The Sinking of the Laconia (2010), Stalingrad (2013), American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally (2021) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023).
4Collaborated again with his The Pianist (2002) co-star Adrien Brody in King Kong (2005). Incidentally, both of Kretschmann's roles with Brody are as captains, albeit of a very different type. In The Pianist (2002), he played a Nazi officer with a conscience; in King Kong (2005) he plays a tough boat captain guiding a film crew.
5He has three children: two sons, Nicolas (born 1998) and Alexander 'Sascha' (born 2002), and one daughter, Stella (born 1999), with his ex-girlfriend, Lena Roklin.

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6Aged 19, he began a month-long trek from East to West Germany to escape Communism, during which he lost part of his finger to frostbite. He crossed 4 borders with nothing other than a passport and the equivalent of $100 in his possession.
7He has played a Nazi officer in 10 movies so far and, in Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II (2005), he played Pope John Paul II, who (as the movie shows) fought against and tried to protect people from the Nazis.
8Made his stage debut in "Macbeth," directed by Katharina Thalbach.
9Modeled in Hugo Boss perfume advertisement.
10Considered buying a house in the Bahamas while filming Der Seewolf (2008) (aka The Sea Wolf).
11He played Count Dracula in Dracula 3D (2012) and his arch nemesis Professor Abraham Van Helsing in Dracula (2013).
12Was hired to voice Johan Krauss in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) but Guillermo Del Toro considered that his voice and the mechanical noise of the character's suit didn't mesh well. The job went to Seth McFarlane.
13Now living and working in Los Angeles