For 50 years, whenever arthouse directors have been looking for a villain or a vampire, a deviant or a desperado, they dial U for Udo. With 200 movies to his name, Udo Kier's stark physiognomy is adored by the camera. An actor with such intensity of gaze, he has withstood with ease the transition from romantic lead to the kind of outlandish character role we see in today's film. He may look the weathered veteran in Ahmed Klink and Kris Merc's dada-esque short, but for his role in flagellants’ favourite The Story of O (1975), one critic called him “the most beautiful man in the world.” "The human race has evolved in a world that doesn’t always seem to have been built for us," says Klink, of Solace. "Our survival instinct pushes us forward. Does art still have place in such a world?"

Much loved by Lars von Trier and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Udo can also be found alongside Keanu Reeves in cyberpunk thriller Johnny Mnemonic, and up to some first-rate rudeness with Reeves again and River Phoenix in My Own Private Idaho. Along the way has been a steady procession of Draculas, Dr Jekylls and Tarantino cameos. Udo offers this assessment of his own career: “100 films are bad, 50 you could watch, and 50 are good.”

Central to his long thespian life is that he is game for anything – he didn't think twice when Madonna rang to see if he was interested in staring up her skirt while Steven Meisel took pictures for her 1992 book, Sex. Here in Solace, we find the 70-year-old disporting himself at his ranch near Palm Springs, California. The film came out of a story he did for Adult magazine, the contemporary erotica title from New York, and the latest members of the cult of Udo. "He exudes such confidence and has an intense personality," says Klink. "My favorite moment came about with Udo crawling up in this cave between two big rocks, frantically looking right and left with his eyes bulging, his pupils tiny. He looked like an animal." Here's to his next 200 films – whether they be bad, watchable or good.

Tom Horan is Culture Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.