# Thomas Kretschmann

Thomas Kretschmann (pronounced; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. 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 as 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

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.
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 colonel 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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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, and first appeared as the character in a post-credits scene of the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He had a larger role as the character in the 2015 movie Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Kretschmann often re-records his own parts for the German dubs of his screen roles. 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 | Title | 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 | |
| 1992 | The Warrior's Heart | Lieutenant Maximillian Luedt | Norwegian | |
| 1993 | Stalingrad | Leutnant Hans von Witzland | German | |
| 1993 | Die Ratte | Sven | German | |
| 1994 | La Reine Margot | Nançay | French | |
| 1995 | Derrick | The Husband of The Murderess | German | Television series; Season 22, Episode 4: "Teestunde mit einer Mörderin" |
| 1995 | I Love My Daughter's Husband [it] | Michael | German | Television film |
| 1996 | The Stendhal Syndrome | Alfredo Grossi | Italian | |
| 1996 | Marching in Darkness (Marciando nel buio) | Gianni Tricarico | Italian | |
| 1997 | Refuge | Santos | German | Television film |
| 1997 | Prince Valiant | Thagnar | English | |
| 1998 | Ms. Diamond | Tim Kaiser | German | Television film |
| 1999 | Esther: The Bible | King Ahasuerus of Persia | English | Television film |
| 1999 | Der Tod in deinen Augen | Billy Tanauer | German | Television film |
| 1999 | Der Solist | Philip Lanart | German | Television series, 4 episodes 1999–2003 |
| 2000 | U-571 | Kapitänleutnant Günther Wassner | English | |
| 2001 | Hostile Takeover | Robert Fernau | German | |
| 2001 | The Knights of the Quest | Vanni Delle Rondini | English | |
| 2002 | Blade II | Eli Damaskinos | English | |
| 2002 | 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 | |
| 2004 | Immortal | Nikopol | French English | |
| 2004 | Downfall | SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein | German | |
| 2004 | Resident Evil: Apocalypse | Major Timothy Cain | English | |
| 2004 | The Karate Dog | Gerber | English | Television film |
| 2004 | Head in the Clouds | Major Franz Bietrich | English | |
| 2004 | Frankenstein | Dr. Victor Helios | English | Television film |
| 2005 | Schneeland | Aron | German | |
| 2005 | Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II | Pope John Paul II | English | Television film |
| 2005 | King Kong | Captain Englehorn | English | |
| 2005 | King Kong: The Video Game | Captain Englehorn | English | Video game |
| 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) |
| 2006 | The Celestine Prophecy | Wil | English | |
| 2006 | 24: The Game | Max | English | Video game |
| 2007 | Next | Mr. Smith | English | |
| 2007 | In Transit | Max | English | |
| 2007 | Eichmann | Adolf Eichmann | English | |
| 2007 | Bionic Woman | The Man | English | Television series (episode one) |
| 2007 | Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps | Paul | German | |
| 2008 | Wanted | Cross | English | |
| 2008 | Transsiberian | Kolzak | English | |
| 2008 | Mogadischu | Captain Jürgen Schumann | German | Television film |
| 2008 | The Sea Wolf [de] | Captain Wolf Larsen | German | Television film |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Otto Ernst Remer | English | |
| 2009 | The Young Victoria | King Leopold I of Belgium | English | |
| 2009 | King Conqueror | Archbishop of Tarragona | English | |
| 2009 | Wanted: Weapons of Fate | Cross | English | Video game |
| 2009 | FlashForward | Stefan Krieger | English | Television series |
| 2010 | The Frontier [de] | Maximilian Schnell | German | Television film |
| 2011 | Cars 2 | Professor Z | English German | Voice |
| 2011 | The Sinking of the Laconia | Admiral Dönitz | English German | Television film – BBC Productions |
| 2011 | Jungle Child | Klaus Kuegler | German | |
| 2011 | The Cape | Gregor The Great | English | Television series |
| 2011 | Hostel: Part III | Flemming | English | Direct-to-DVD |
| 2011 | What a Man | Jens | German | |
| 2012 | Dracula 3D | Dracula | English | |
| 2012 | The River | Captain Kurt Brynildson | English | Television series |
| 2013 | Dracula | Abraham Van Helsing | English | Television series |
| 2013 | Stalingrad | Peter Kahn | Russian, German | |
| 2013 | Open Grave | Lukas | English | |
| 2013 | The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden | Friedrich Ritter | English | Narration/voice |
| 2014 | Plastic | Marcel | English | |
| 2014 | United Passions | Horst Dassler | English | |
| 2014 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Baron Wolfgang von Strucker | English | Uncredited cameo; mid-credits scene |
| 2015 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | Baron Wolfgang von Strucker | English | |
| 2015 | Hitman: Agent 47 | Le Clerq | English | |
| 2015 | Spectre | Hannes Oberhauser | English | Photograph only |
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Airplane Passenger | English | |
| 2016 | Central Intelligence | The Buyer | English | |
| 2016 | Stratton | Grigory Barovsky | English | |
| 2017 | The Blue Mauritius | Holtz | English | |
| 2017 | The Saint | Rayt Marius | English | |
| 2017 | Jungle | Karl | English | |
| 2017 | A Taxi Driver | Jürgen Hinzpeter / Peter | Korean German | |
| 2017 | Berlin Station | Otto Ganz | English | TV series |
| 2018 | Dragged Across Concrete | Lorentz Vogelmann | English | |
| 2018 | Balloon | Oberstleutnant Seidel | German | |
| 2018 | Lore | Inspector Georg Reingruber | English | TV series |
| 2018 | Discarnate | Dr. Andre Mason | English | |
| 2019 | Project Blue Book | Wernher von Braun | English | TV series |
| 2020 | Waiting for Anya | Nazi Corporal | German | |
| 2020 | Westworld | Gerald | English | TV series |
| 2020 | Das Boot | Friedrich Berger | German | TV series |
| 2020 | Penny Dreadful: City of Angels | Hoss | English | TV series |
| 2020 | Greyhound | Captain of The U-Boat Grey Wolf | English | |
| 2021 | American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally | Joseph Goebbels | English | |
| 2021 | Biohackers | Baron Von Fürstenberg | German | TV series, season 2 |
| 2023 | Infinity Pool | Detective Thresh | English | |
| 2023 | Last Sentinel | Sergeant Hendrich | English | |
| 2023 | Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Colonel Weber | English | |
| 2023 | Gran Turismo | Patrice Capa | English | |
| 2023 | Deliver Us | Father Saul | English | |
| 2024 | American Star | | English | |
| 2024 | Upgraded | | English | |
| 2024 | Putin | | 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 Festival, 2007