An Isleworth actor who specialises in playing baddies is back on the big screen as a Nazi in Woman In Gold.
Erich Redman quit the business world 20 years ago to pursue his thespian dream and ended up swapping sharp suits for Nazi and Communist clobber as his accent made him a natural choice for Second World War and Cold War villains.
Woman In Gold, directed by Simon Curtis and starring Helen Mirren, tells the real life tale of a Jewish woman's fight to reclaim a precious family painting looted by the Nazis 60 years earlier.
Mr Redman has a relatively minor part as the Nazi officer who unwittingly allows the heroine to flee Nazi Germany as a young woman. He said he enjoyed filming at Shoreham Airport, which was transformed into a 1944 Viennese airfield for the scene.
The actor, who was born in modern day Russia and raised in Germany, is due to appear in Nazi garb again later this year in the feature film Chosen, starring Harvey Keitel, in which he has a more substantial role.
But despite having worked with the likes of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, he claims he is growing tired of being typecast due to the way he speaks.
"It's a little frustrating always playing baddies because I think I can do more," he said.
"I tried getting rid of my accent a few years ago by taking elocution lessons but it's hard to shake after all these years. I shouldn't complain as it's got me lots of work."
