Bio
Thomas Kretschmann is a German-born American actor who has acted in several popular American movies such as Resident Evil: Apocalypse, The Pianist, U-571 and In Enemy Hands.
In 2012 he starred in the paranormal horror series The River and in 2013 he had a starring role in the horror drama series Dracula.
Kretschmann was born in East Germany during the late 1960s' Communist regime. In a time of war and repression, he excelled at swimming and was enrolled in East Germany's National Swimming School.
It was there that he trained for the 1980 Olympics, but due to a Communist boycott, Kretschmann set out for a new life. After much planning and determination, he escaped East Germany on his own, arriving in West Berlin with a dream to become an actor.
In 1991 Kretschmann made his film debut in Der Mitwisser and won Germany's prestigious Max-Ophuls Prize for Best Up and Coming Actor. It wasn't until his role in the World War II epic, Stalingrad, that Kretschmann became an international name, moving on to other European films like Queen Margot and Prince Valiant.
Kretschmann continued to build film credits in Hollywood with roles in U-571, opposite Matthew McConaughey and Harvey Keitel, as well as films such as The Pianist, Resident Evil: Apocalypse and King Kong.
He can also be seen in the film Unleashed, opposite Jon Voight, and can be heard in Disney Pixar's Cars 2 as the voice of Professor Z.
Kretschmann currently resides in Los Angeles and has three children: Nicolas, Stella and Sascha.