Typecasting has always been a thing in Hollywood. Back in the studio era of the 1920s, roles would almost exclusively be cast “along type”, with the same few actors playing the same sort of parts in each film that was released, and audiences becoming accustomed to these familiar faces. Even recently, this has remained true. Patrick Stewart has famously said that he struggled to find work after Star Trek: The Next Generation as directors would say to him “Why would I want Captain Picard in my movie?” It would seem, once an actor has been typecast, it’s hard to break free.
Nevertheless, for a majority of actors, typecasting is a net positive: Jason Statham and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson certainly aren’t complaining about the steady stream of work they get from being typecast as action heroes. Moreover, it also offers some actors the opportunity to “play against type” – assuming a role antithetical to what the audience expects of them (think Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club and the general ‘McConaissance’). Such turns are usually lauded with praise and industry awards.
However, not all typecasts are equally palatable. Take Thomas Kretschmann, for example: He’s Hollywood’s go-to Nazi.
Born in East Germany in 1962, Kretschmann grew up in the Soviet district of Dessau before escaping into West Germany at age 19. After briefly training to be an Olympic swimmer, he began acting in various European art-house films before getting in his big break with 1993’s Stalingrad. In the film, Kretschmann played Lieutenant Hans von Witzland, an officer within the German army in during the Battle of Stalingrad (so a Nazi). This role caught the attention of casting agents around the world, and launched his prodigious career of playing a lot of Nazis.
Indeed, since 1993, Kretschmann has played a Nazi in 13 different films. Whether made by Hollywood or some European alternatives, in English or in German, he has brought to life some of the worst villains in history film after film. Not bad for a person born under Soviet rule.
To be specific, Kretschmann has played a Nazi solider in: Stalingrad (1993), Krigerens Hjerte (1994), U-571 (2000), The Pianist (2002), In Enemy Hands (2004), Downfall - Der Untergang (2004), Head in the Clouds (2004), Eichmann (2007), Operation Valkyrie (2008), Laconia (2011), Stalingrad (2013 - yes, a second movie called Stalingrad), Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)…. And that’s just the times he was a literal Nazi, and not a vaguely fascist German character.
In fact, Kretschmann is also the MCU’s resident Nazi, having played the reoccurring role of Baron Strucker: the Nazi at the beginning of Age of Ultron who gave Pietro and Wanda their powers. That’s right – without Kretschmann, there wouldn’t be any Wandavision.
So how does Kretschmann feel about being typecast as Nazi? Well, mixed. In a press interview for the film Operation Valkyrie, he was asked this exact question, to which he responded, “as a German, I’m of course sensitive about this subject, about Nazi Germany, about Nazis about that whole period of time. Especially because I’m working in the United States, and I’m confronted by these kinds of roles all the time… and most of the time the roles are crap! So, yeah, I’m a little sensitive – it all comes down to the script and how they frame the part and the awful things they believe in”.
It would seem, after a career of being typecast, Kretschmann understands the nuances that come with playing Nazi – he’s obviously put a lot of thought into the situation. Which is good, because Hollywood is likely to cast him as a Nazi for years to come.