by Alyse Wax

Thomas Kretschmann has a wide range of films on his resume, from Blade II to King Kong to this month?s Wanted to the much-anticipated Valkyrie (whenever they finish that one). But none could be more fascinating than a little German film he shot two years ago, which has yet to be released (?There were some legal issues with it in Germany,? he says)--called Grimm Love.

Grimm Love is the fictionalized account of a German man, Armin Meiwes, who puts an advertisement up on the internet, looking for a willing victim for him to cannibalize. Meiwes finds a respondent, Bernd Jurgen Brandes, who is all too willing and eager. The two attempt to feast on Brandes?s penis, but when that fails, Meiwes allows his new ?friend? to bleed to death and eats over twenty kilograms of flesh over the ensuing months. Meiwes is currently serving eight years for manslaughter.

"It was fantastic to do that film. I have never had so much fun," Kretschmann enthused at yesterday's Wanted press junket in LA . "I did that one the same year I did King Kong. First I played the Pope, then I was in King Kong, then I played a cannibal. I thought it was a good mix." Kretschmann?s eyes twinkle with boyish mischief when he talks about his assortment of roles.

When asked about High Midnight, however, the vampire western slated for release next year, Kretschmann appears frustrated, albeit good-naturedly so. "Fucking internet. I never did that film. They asked me two years ago if I wanted to do it. I said, 'If you get the script right, I?d like to,' and that was the last I heard about it." Someone better let IMDB know--vampire hunter or cannibal, Kretschmann isn't someone to mess with.

Wanting more? Check out our 'Wanted' review and our cast/director interviews.