OD's Udo Kier Dies Aged 81, Hideo Kojima Pays Respects

Celebrated actor Udo Kier has passed away, age 81, leaving behind a six decade legacy of film appearances.

The German film star’s passing was confirmed by Delbert McBride, Kier’s partner, and has led to a heartwarming day of remembrance and mourning in the film industry.

Kier appeared in over 200 films, including Blade, Armageddon and classic horror films such as Blood for Dracula. By the end of his career he could easily be deemed as an icon of the horror genre.

One of Kier’s latest projects would see the star venture into the game industry, as the actor was set to join the cast of OD, an upcoming horror game directed, produced and designed by Hideo Kojima in addition to being co-written with Jordan Peele.

Published by Xbox Game Studios, the game saw its first teaser trailer earlier this year starring Hunter Schafer being hunted by an unknown but terrifying entity.

Xbox Game Studios

No raw gameplay was shown as the game is still in early development, but given Hideo Kojima’s involvement fans can surely expect something truly special.

Whichever character Udo Kier was supposed to play is currently unknown, but will now unfortunately need to be recast.

A real shame as Hideo Kojima was incredibly excited to work with the highly respected actor.

As such, Hideo Kojima has publicly acknowledged the passing with a touching eulogy on the actor’s legacy, as well as how heartwrenching it is that the pair couldn’t complete their work on OD.

Kojima began by saying: “I’m at a loss for words. It all happened far too suddenly.

Because of the strike, we weren’t able to shoot “OD” for a long time, and we were forced to reschedule to next year.

"Even during that time, Udo and I exchanged emails frequently. We stayed in close contact.”

The creative’s statement went on to say how the pair met in Milan and were excited to eventually work together in 2026, adding how Kier was “was full of energy then too, making me laugh with his usual ‘Udo-isms.’ I still can’t believe this.”

Kojima closed his statement by saying “Udo wasn’t just an actor. He was truly an ‘icon’ of his time. We’ve lost a great ‘icon.’ There will never be another like him. Udo, rest in peace. I will never forget you.”

Both fans of Kier and Kojima came together in the comments to pay their respects as well as offer their condolences to Kier’s friends and family.