Sandra Hüller (German: [ˈzandʁa ˈhʏlɐ]; born 30 April 1978) is a German actress. She has received various accolades, including two Silver Bears and a César Award along with nominations for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
Hüller made her film debut in 1999. She would go on to win Silver Bear for Best Actress for her performance as a woman based on the case of Anneliese Michel in Hans-Christian Schmid's drama Requiem (2006) and the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for playing a female soldier disguised as a man in Markus Schleinzer's drama Rose (2026). She also took leading roles in the Maren Ade's comedy Toni Erdmann (2016) and Frauke Finsterwalder's historical black comedy Sisi & I (2023).
International recognition came in 2023 for her starring roles in Justine Triet's legal drama Anatomy of a Fall and Jonathan Glazer's Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest. Her performance in the former won a César Award as well as nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2026, she appeared in the science-fiction comedy-drama Project Hail Mary, the Paweł Pawlikowski drama Fatherland, and the Alejandro G. Iñárritu satire Digger.
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Early life and education
Hüller was born on 30 April 1978 in Suhl, Bezirk Suhl (in today's Thuringia), East Germany, and grew up in Oberhof and Friedrichroda, small villages in the heavily forested state of Thuringia. She is the elder of two children, with parents who were educators; her father taught at a centre for apprentices, and her mother gave after-school tutoring.
Hüller cut her hair, dyed it red, and joined a drama club as a teenager. She also participated in the theatre workshop at school, but did not consider becoming a professional actor at that time. In high school, Hüller had her stage debut with the 1996 production Wir Voodookinder directed by Robert Lehniger at the Theatertreffen der Jugend in Berlin.
From 1996, Hüller studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, graduating in 2003.
Career
Early career (1998–2016)
Hüller appeared from 1998 to 2001 at the Theaterhaus Jena in Jena, Thuringia, and then for one year at the Schauspiel Leipzig. It was Oliver Held, a playwright from Jena, who recommended her to the Theater Basel in Basel, Switzerland, where she appeared until 2006. In 2006, Hüller appeared as Michaela Klingler in Hans-Christian Schmid's film Requiem, for which she won the 56th Berlin International Film Festival's Award for Best Actress and her first German Film Award. In 2009, Hüller appeared as Elizabeth I in Virgin Queen at Prater Volksbühne theatre, and in the music theatre show For Love, directed by Tom Schneider, based on the works of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love.
In 2012, at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, Hüller was – alongside Emily Jacir and David OReilly – part of the jury that chose Justine Triet's Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon as the festival's best short film. From 2012 to 2015, Hüller was a member of the company at the Munich Kammerspiele, where she worked with director Johan Simons on several plays, notably Elfriede Jelinek's Die Straße. Die Stadt. Der Überfall. in 2013. In 2016, Hüller co-founded the FARN.collective theatre group.
2018–present
In 2018, Hüller became a member of the company at the Schauspiel Bochum, again working with Johan Simons, and played the lead role in Simons' adaptation of Penthesilea in Bochum and at the Salzburg Festival. In 2019, Hüller appeared in Johan Simons' award-winning, gender-switched version of Hamlet. In 2019, Hüller was part of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival's jury, chaired by Juliette Binoche. Later in 2019, she appeared in two French films, Justine Triet's Sibyl, where she played film director Mika, and in Alice Winocour's Proxima as the psychologist Wendy.
In 2023, Hüller portrayed Countess Irma Sztáray in Frauke Finsterwalder's historical black comedy film Sisi & I, a retelling of the later years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria from the point of view of her lady-in-waiting. The film had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival on 19 February 2023, and was released in Germany on 30 March 2023. Hüller was nominated for the German Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film.
In 2023, Hüller starred in two films that premiered in main competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival; the French legal drama Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, which won the Palme d'Or, and the American-British-Polish Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, which won the Grand Prix. Both films brought her international recognition. She won her second European Film Award for Best Actress for Anatomy of a Fall, while also being nominated for The Zone of Interest. She also earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Anatomy of a Fall, as well as BAFTA Film Award nominations for both Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. She also won the César Award for Best Actress for Anatomy of a Fall.
In May 2024, Variety reported that Hüller would begin filming Late Fame in New York City that fall, starring alongside Willem Dafoe; by October, Greta Lee replaced her due to scheduling conflicts.
In April 2025, Hüller made her stage directorial debut, co-directing Penthesile:a:s by Marie Dilasser with Tom Schneider at the Neues Theater Halle as part of their FARN.collective.
In 2026, Hüller starred in Markus Schleinzer's Rose as a middle-aged woman disguised as a man, who appears in a secluded Protestant village. For her performance, Hüller received critical acclaim, winning the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. She also played the role of Eva Stratt in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Project Hail Mary, an adaptation of Andy Weir's 2021 novel of the same name. Hüller played the lead role as the daughter of German writer Thomas Mann in Fatherland, a drama by Pawel Pawlikowski which premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim.
Other activities
In 2024, Hüller appeared in the first-ever advertising campaign of Phoebe Philo's eponymous fashion brand. During Paris Fashion Week in 2025, she opened the fashion show of Miu Miu. Since 2026, she has been a brand ambassador for Chanel.
In July 2024, Hüller christened the ship Sea-Eye 5 for the Sea-Eye NGO in Ancona and criticised the European migration policy in an interview.
Personal life
Hüller speaks German, English, French, and Spanish.
She considers Thuringia as home, but as of 2018 was living in Leipzig-Plagwitz, Germany, with her daughter, who was born in 2011.
Hüller is a licensed forklift operator, after becoming certified for a role in Thomas Stuber's In the Aisles.
Filmography
Radio
2013: Paul Plamper: Der Kauf, produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk and Schauspiel Köln
2016: Franz Kafka, Das Schloss, produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk and Hörspiel und Medienkunst
2017: Paul Plamper: Dienstbare Geister, produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Ruhrtriennale and Maxim Gorki Theater
2021: Kirsten Becken: Ihre Geister sehen, produced by Deutschlandfunk
Audiobook
2013: Finn-Ole Heinrich: Die erstaunlichen Abenteuer der Maulina Schmitt – Mein kaputtes Königreich. (Hörcompany)
2014: Finn-Ole Heinrich: Die erstaunlichen Abenteuer der Maulina Schmitt – Warten auf Wunder. (Hörcompany)
2015: Finn-Ole Heinrich: Die erstaunlichen Abenteuer der Maulina Schmitt – Ende des Universums (Hörcompany)
2015: Karen Köhler: Wir haben Raketen geangelt (tacheles!/Roof Music)
2017: Mariana Leky: Was man von hier aus sehen kann (tacheles!/Roof Music)
2018: Wolfgang Herrndorf: Bilder deiner großen Liebe: Ein großer Monolog mit Musik (tacheles!/Roof Music)
2019: Mariana Leky: Die Herrenausstatterin (tacheles!/Roof Music)
2019: Mariana Leky: Erste Hilfe (tacheles!/Roof Music)
Awards and nominations
In 2014, Hüller won the German Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Franziska Feldenhoven in Frauke Finsterwalder's film Finsterworld. Hüller accepted the invitation to become a member of Berlin's Academy of Arts in 2017. In October 2020, she was appointed to the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. For Anatomy of a Fall (2023), Hüller became the third German actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the first German actress to be nominated since Luise Rainer in 1937. In June 2024, Hüller was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Besides Julia Jentsch and Paula Beer, Hüller is the only German actress to win both the European Film Award and the Silver Bear for Best Actress, top honours of the European Film Academy and Berlin Film Festival, in the 21st century.
