Catching up with the stars of what might just be Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece.

Where is the cast of Inglourious Basterds now? See the stars 17 years later

Catching up with the stars of what might just be Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece.

and Kevin Jacobsen

August 21, 2026 8:40 a.m. ET

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Gedeon Burkhard as Corp. Wilhelm Wicki, Alexander Fehling as Master Sergeant Wilhelm, and Michael Fassbender as Lt. Archie Hicox in ‘Inglourious Basterds’. Credit:

Francois Duhamel/Weinstein Coompany/Courtesy Everett Collection

*Inglourious Basterds* marked new territory for writer-director Quentin Tarantino. Diverging from the contemporary crime films that made him famous, the 2009 war drama brought audiences back to World War II with a tale of revenge and retribution. The ambitious saga, which tells the story of a group of Jewish American soldiers and a grieving woman separately seeking vengeance on the Nazis, was a major box office success that earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

The sprawling cast included a handful of recognizable names like Brad Pitt but was mostly comprised of rising stars who were launched into worldwide recognition because of the film. Most prominent among them was Christoph Waltz, whose scene-stealing turn as a quirky but ruthless SS officer won him nearly every Supporting Actor award that year, including the Oscar.

Now, on the 17th anniversary of its release in theaters, we’re examining the cast of *Inglourious Basterds* to see what they’ve been up to since giving us this delectable slice of alternative history.

Brad Pitt (Lt. Aldo “the Apache” Raine)

Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Brad Pitt in the press room during the 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 19, 2020, in Los Angeles, Calif.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Brad Pitt played Lt. Aldo Raine, leader of the crack team of Jewish American troops spreading terror throughout the Nazi regime.

Following his stint with the Basterds, the veteran movie star took on the role of Billy Beane in 2011’s biographical sports drama *Moneyball*, and captured strict mid-century fatherhood in *The Tree of Life* (2011). Already an Academy Award winner for being on the producing team for *12 Years a Slave* (2013), Pitt earned an acting Oscar for his role as stunt double Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino’s *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* (2019)*.*

In the 2020s, Pitt has balanced blockbusters like *Bullet Train* (2022) and *F1* (2025) with executive producing various small-scale films and documentaries. He is set to reprise his *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* role in *The Adventures of Cliff Booth*, written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher.

Pitt dated actress Gwyneth Paltrow from 1994 to 1997; though the pair became engaged, they never wed. He married Jennifer Aniston in 2000, but they split in 2005. He then married Angelina Jolie in 2014 after nine years together. They separated in 2016 and finalized their divorce in December 2024. Pitt shares six children with Jolie: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne.

Mélanie Laurent (Shosanna Dreyfus)

Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Mélanie Laurent at the 77th Locarno Film Festival on Aug. 7, 2024, in Locarno, Switzerland.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Mélanie Laurent played Shosanna Dreyfus, a young Jewish woman who burns with a desire for revenge against the Nazi commander who murdered her family.

While Laurent had earned acclaim for her roles in French cinema, *Inglourious Basterds *was her first appearance in an American film. Most of her *Basterds* dialogue is in French, but she did have to learn some English for the role. The celebrated performance led to more English-speaking parts, including the romantic drama *Beginners* (2010)*, *opposite Ewan McGregor, and the magician caper *Now You See Me* (2013).

Laurent starred with two Jake Gyllenhaals in Denis Villeneuve’s surreal chiller *Enemy *(2013), reunited with *Basterds* costar Brad Pitt in Angelina Jolie’s drama *By the Sea* (2015), and returned to the Nazi-hunting business in 2018’s *Operation Finale*, which dramatized the capture of former SS officer Adolf Eichmann. She then starred in Michael Bay’s action thriller *6 Underground *(2019), with Ryan Reynolds. She most recently starred in the Apple TV miniseries *The Hunt*, which was released in March 2026.

Laurent has also branched out as a director. Her first film was *The Adopted *(2011), and she earned strong acclaim for her follow-up, the coming-of-age drama *Breathe *(2014). *Galveston *(2018) was her first English-language film, and she helmed the French action comedy *Wingwomen* (2023) for Netflix.

Laurent married in 2013 but has never publicly revealed her husband’s name. The pair have two children.

Christoph Waltz (Hans Landa)

Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Christoph Waltz attends the 96th annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024, in Hollywood, Calif.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Christoph Waltz plays “Jew Hunter” Hans Landa, a charismatic, arrogant, and remorseless SS colonel who orders the murder of Shosanna’s family and later oversees security at the film premiere held at her theater, uncovering the Basterds’ assassination plot in the process.

Waltz was well known on the German stage and small screen before Quentin Tarantino cast him as the scene-stealing Landa. His extraordinary performance earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor — making him the first actor to win an Academy Award for a Tarantino film.

Waltz reteamed with Tarantino in the Western-styled revenge epic *Django Unchained* (2012), playing the dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz. Tarantino wrote the part specifically for Waltz, and it garnered a second Oscar win for the actor.

Since his *Basterds* breakthrough, Waltz has been a mainstay on American screens. He searched for the meaning of life in Terry Gilliam’s 2013 science-fiction film *The Zero Theorem*, put his persuasive charms to diabolical use in Tim Burton’s *Big Eyes* (2014), and played Matt Damon’s hedonistic neighbor in the eco-satire *Downsizing* (2017).

Blockbusters have come calling as well: Waltz took on the mantle of Bond’s nemesis Blofeld in *Spectre *(2015), a devious diamond merchant in *The Legend of Tarzan* (2016), and a cyberpunk Geppetto in *Alita: Battle Angel *(2019). More recently, Waltz has collaborated with Guillermo del Toro on the director’s Oscar-winning *Pinocchio* (2022) and *Frankenstein* (2025), and appeared in the fifth season of *Only Murders in the Building*.

Waltz’s first marriage, to dance therapist Jacqueline Ranch, resulted in three children. His second wife is German costume designer Judith Holtz, with whom he shares a daughter.

Eli Roth (Sgt. Donny Donowitz)

Eli Roth as Sgt. Donny Donowitz in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Eli Roth attends the ‘Borderlands’ Los Angeles fan event at TCL Chinese Theatre on Aug. 6, 2024, in Hollywood, Calif.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Eli Roth plays Sgt. Donny Donowitz, “the Bear Jew” who terrorizes the Nazis by beating captured soldiers to death with a baseball bat.

Roth is primarily known as a director rather than an actor. Quentin Tarantino first invited him to play a small role in the *Death Proof* half of the double-feature *Grindhouse* (2007), for which Roth also directed one of the fake trailers, *Thanksgiving*, that played between the two films.

Roth later directed the cannibal horror film *The Green Inferno* (2013), followed by a pair of remakes: the Keanu Reeves-led *Knock Knock* (2015), based on *Death Game* (1977), and *Death Wish* (2018), based on the 1974 Charles Bronson hit. His next movie was a change of pace with the fantasy comedy *The House with a Clock in Its Walls* (2018), starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. This PG-rated entry was a mild box office success, but Roth soon returned to his horror roots for a feature-length version of *Thanksgiving** *(2023). He then reunited with Blanchett and Black for the video game adaptation *Borderlands *(2024), while his latest slasher is *Ice Cream Man* (2026)*.*

Roth married Chilean actress and model Lorenza Izzo in 2014; the couple separated in 2018 and finalized their divorce the following year. Roth revealed in 2023 that he had remarried.

Michael Fassbender (Archie Hicox)

Michael Fassbender as Archie Hicox in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Michael Fassbender attends the opening gala of ‘Kneecap’ during the Sundance Film Festival London 2024 at the Picturehouse Central on June 6, 2024, in London, England.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Michael Fassbender played the German-speaking British lieutenant Archie Hicox, who joins the Basterds for a dangerous, ill-fated undercover operation.

Fassbender’s career took off from there, starring in Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of *Jane Eyre* (2011)* *and the grueling sex-addict character study *Shame* (2011), before taking on Carl Jung, opposite Viggo Mortensen’s Freud, in David Cronenberg’s *A Dangerous Method* (2011)*.*

Mainstream recognition came, of course, in the form of a comic book role — namely, the conflicted antihero Magneto, a younger version of the character Ian McKellen brought to life, in the origin story *X-Men: First Class* (2011), going on to play the role in multiple films*.* The next summer, he stole every scene in Ridley Scott’s *Alien* (1979) prequel, *Prometheus*, as the android David 8.

In 2014, Fassbender received his first Oscar nomination for playing slave owner Edwin Epps in *12 Years a Slave.* He lawyered up for the title role in Scott’s Cormac McCarthy-penned crime thriller *The Counselor* (2013) and spent a whole movie underneath a papier-mâché mask in the comedy *Frank* (2014) before earning his second Oscar nomination for playing the title role in *Steve Jobs* (2015).

Fassbender returned after a four-year hiatus from acting (during which he pursued his passion for auto racing) to play an assassin in David Fincher’s *The Killer *(2023), and, soon after, teamed up with Cate Blanchett in Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller *Black Bag *(2025)*.*

Fassbender has one son with Swedish actress Alicia Vikander, whom he married in 2017. They met on the set of *The Light Between Oceans *(2016) and can also be seen in South Korean auteur Na Hong-jin’s *Hope *(2025).

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Diane Kruger (Bridget von Hammersmark)

Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Diane Kruger attends the Vanity Fair Awards Insider event at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Carlton Beach Club on May 22, 2024, in Cannes, France.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Diane Kruger played German film star turned double agent Bridget von Hammersmark, who puts herself at risk by plotting with the Basterds to take down the Nazi leadership.

Kruger has since bounced between American and European productions. She starred alongside Liam Neeson in the twisty psychothriller *Unknown* (2011) and hit the YA circuit with the Saoirse Ronan-led movie *The Host *(2014). She was Marie Antoinette opposite Léa Seydoux in *Farewell, My Queen *(2012), and Abraham Lincoln’s stepmother in *The Better Angels* (2014).

She earned best actress honors at Cannes for the drama *In the Fade** *(2017) and reteamed with Neeson for the Philip Marlowe potboiler *Marlowe *(2022). In between all that, she played the lead detective in FX’s crime drama *The Bridge*. She also took on triple duty as three characters in David Cronenberg’s *The Shrouds *(2024) and stars on both Paramount+’s *Little Disasters* and HBO Max’s *The Seduction*.

Kruger was married to French actor and director Guillaume Canet from 1999 to 2006. After a decade-long relationship with Joshua Jackson, she started dating actor Norman Reedus in 2016. The couple shares a daughter, Nova.

Daniel Brühl (Frederick Zoller)

Daniel Brühl as Frederick Zoller in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Daniel Brühl attends the ‘Becoming Karl Lagerfeld’ photo call at the Madrid Edition Hotel on June 3, 2024, in Madrid, Spain.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Daniel Brühl played decorated German soldier Frederick Zoller, who recreates his own wartime exploits in a Nazi propaganda film, the premiere of which is the setting for *Basterds*’ explosive final segment.

Brühl is a German actor who gained a reputation in his home country for playing nice guys, and then came to America and started playing villains. While he had a small role in *The Bourne Ultimatum* (2007), his complex performance in *Inglourious Basterds* was his true introduction to the American mainstream.

Brühl earned numerous nominations for his performance as famed Formula One driver Niki Lauda in *Rush* (2013), about his intense rivalry with James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), then appeared in WikiLeaks drama *The Fifth Estate *(2013) and the star-studded *A Most Wanted Man *(2014), from spy specialist John le Carré.

Marvel brought Brühl his largest audience yet, seeing him play the villainous Baron Zemo in *Captain America: Civil War* (2016) and *The Falcon and the Winter Soldier*. After playing a real-life Nazi in the Jessica Chastain-led drama *The Zookeeper’s Wife* (2017), he took to the small screen for the title role in the serial killer procedural *The Alienist*, starring with Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning.

More recently, he costarred in Netflix’s Oscar-winning war drama *All Quiet on the Western Front *(2022), played the lead in the miniseries *Becoming Karl Lagerfeld*, and was a lead in Ron Howard’s *Eden *(2024)..

Brühl has been in a relationship with psychotherapist Felicitas Rombold since 2010; they have two sons.

Til Schweiger (Hugo Stiglitz)

Til Schweiger as Hugo Stiglitz in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Til Schweiger attends the ‘Gott, Du kannst ein Arsch sein’ premiere during the 16th Zurich Film Festival at Kino Corso on Oct. 2, 2020, in Zurich, Switzerland.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Til Schweiger played Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz, a rogue German soldier who became infamous for killing Gestapo officers. He eventually joined the Basterds to further indulge his thirst for righteous vengeance.

Schweiger is a German actor and filmmaker who debuted in the tragicomedy *Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door *(1997). His 2007 romantic comedy *Rabbit Without Ears* is one of the most successful German films of the modern era.

*Inglourious Basterds* was Schweiger’s first American film. Since then, he’s appeared in the secret agent rom-com *This Means War* (2012), the romantic drama *Charlie Countryman *(2013), and David Leitch’s spy thriller *Atomic Blonde* (2017)*.* Schweiger also was seen alongside Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson in Guy Ritchie’s WWII caper *The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare *(2024)*.*

Schweiger married American model Dana Carlsen in 1995; their union lasted until 2014. They have four children: Valentin, Luna, Lilli, and Emma.

B.J. Novak (Smithson Utivich)

B.J. Novak as Smithson Utivich in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; B.J. Novak attends the 2023 Academy Museum Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Dec. 3, 2023, in Los Angeles, Calif.

Weinstein Company; Taylor Hill/WireImage

B.J. Novak played a member of Aldo’s squad, who’s mildly irked when he finds out that his nickname among the German army is “the Little Man.”

Novak was first known as ambitious temp employee Ryan Howard on the hit American version of *The Office*; he was also a writer for the show. After *The Office* ended, he appeared in *Office *costar Mindy Kaling’s sitcom *The Mindy Project* in a recurring role. He and Kaling also engaged in an on-again, off-again relationship while working on *The Office* and have remained close ever since, with Novak being the godfather of Kaling’s three children.

On film, he and Jason Schwartzman played the Sherman brothers — known for writing countless classic Disney songs — in *Saving Mr. Banks* (2013), and he appeared in 2016’s *The Founder*, a biopic about former McDonald’s CEO Ray Kroc. In 2022, Novak made his feature directorial debut with the Texas-set murder mystery *Vengeance *(2022)*.* He also had a key role in *The Devil Wears Prada 2* (2026).

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Gedeon Burkhard (Wilhelm Wicki)

Gedeon Burkhard as Wilhelm Wicki in ‘Inglourious Basterds’; Gedeon Burkhard attends the Studio Babelsberg German Film Award Brunch at Zollpackhof Biergarten on May 4, 2019, in Berlin, Germany.

Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection; Getty

Gedeon Burkhard played Corp. Wilhelm Wicki, who accompanied Sergeant Stiglitz and Lieutenant Hicox for an ill-fated meeting with Bridget von Hammersmark in a basement pub.

Burkhard is a German film and television actor best known in his native country for the Austrian police drama series *Kommissar Rex.* *Inglourious Basterds* is his only American film so far. He also appeared in the Czech feature *The Devil’s Mistress *(2016)*,* a biographical film about Lída Baarová, the companion of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

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