Thomas Kretschmann

Received the Max Ophls Prize for best young actor in 1991.

Started working as an actor at the age of 25, after being trained to be an Olympic swimmer.

Has played a Nazi officer in 11 different, completely unrelated films: Krigerens hjerte , Stalingrad , U-571 , The Pianist , In Enemy Hands , Der Untergang , Head in the Clouds , Eichmann , Valkyrie , "The Sinking of the Laconia" and Stalingrad .

Collaborated again with his The Pianist co-star Adrien Brody in King Kong . Incidentally, both of Kretschmanns roles with Brody are as captains, albeit of a very different type. In The Pianist , he played a Nazi officer with a conscience; in King Kong he plays a tough boat captain guiding a film crew.

He has three children: two sons, Nicolas and Alexander Sascha , and one daughter, Stella , with his ex-girlfriend, Lena Roklin.

Aged 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.

He has played a Nazi officer in 10 movies so far and, in Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II , he played Pope John Paul II , who (as the movie shows) fought against and tried to protect people from the Nazis.

Made his stage debut in "Macbeth," directed by Katharina Thalbach.

Modeled in Hugo Boss perfume advertisement.

Considered buying a house in the Bahamas while filming Der Seewolf (aka The Sea Wolf).

He played Count Dracula in Dracula 3D and his arch nemesis Professor Abraham Van Helsing in "Dracula" .

Was hired to voice Johan Krauss in Hellboy II: The Golden Army but Guillermo Del Toro considered that his voice and the mechanical noise of the characters suit didnt mesh well. The job went to Seth McFarlane.

Now living and working in Los Angeles

He starred in two World War II films with the same title: Stalingrad and Stalingrad .