Sandra Hüller (; born 30 April 1978) is a German actress. She gained critical praise for her portrait of

Anneliese Michel Anna Elisabeth "Anneliese" Michel (21 September 1952 – 1 July 1976) was a German woman who underwent 67 Catholic exorcism rites during the year before her death. She died of malnutrition, for which her parents and priest were convicted of neg ...

Hans-Christian Schmid Hans-Christian Schmid (born 1965) is a German film director and screenwriter. Life and work Hans-Christian Schmid has collaborated with on several of the movies that he directed. Gutmann wrote screenplays for ''23 (film), 23 — Nichts ist so ...

's drama ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'' (2006), and is best known internationally for her starring role in

Maren Ade Maren Ade (; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she r ...

's comedy ''

Toni Erdmann Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegia ...

'' (2016). Besides

Julia Jentsch Julia Jentsch (born 20 February 1978) is a German actress. She has received awards including the Silver Bear, European Film Award, and Lola. She is best known for ''Sophie Scholl – The Final Days'', '' The Edukators'' and ''I Served the King of ...

Nina Hoss Nina Hoss (; born 7 July 1975) is a German stage and film actress. Early life Hoss was born in Stuttgart, West Germany. Her father, , was a German trade unionist and politician (member of the Bundestag with The Greens). Her mother, , was an act ...

and

Paula Beer Paula Beer (; born 23 February 1995 in Mainz) is a German actress. She first became known as a teenager for her main role in Chris Kraus' 2010 film ''Poll''. Her breakthrough was in 2016, when she starred in François Ozon's '' Frantz'' (2016), f ...

she is the only German actress to win either the

European Film Award The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European film, cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which th ...

or the

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

, top honors of the

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soci ...

and

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, in the 21st century. Hüller has starred in German, Austrian, British and French films.

Life and career

Hüller was born in

Suhl Suhl () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located SW of Erfurt, NE of Würzburg and N of Nuremberg. With its 37,000 inhabitants, it is the smallest of the six urban districts within Thuringia. Together with its northern neighbour-town Zella- ...

, East Germany. She studied theater from 1996 to 2000 at the Hochschule Für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch", Berlin. She appeared from 1998 to 2001 at the Jena Theater,

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

and then for one year at the Schauspiel Leipzig. It was Oliver Held who recommended her to the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not ha ...

, Switzerland where she appeared until 2006. Prior to the release of ''

'' in 2016, Hüller was best known for her role as Michaela Klingler in

's film ''

'', for which she won the

Berlin Film Festival Award for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

in 2006. In 2014, she won the

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Franziska Feldenhoven in

Frauke Finsterwalder Frauke Finsterwalder (born 15 December 1975) is a German film director and screenwriter. Finsterwalder has directed several shorts and documentaries and is the director of the 2013 feature film ''Finsterworld''. Her second feature film, ''Sisi & ...

's film ''

Finsterworld ''Finsterworld'' is a 2013 German motion picture drama directed by Frauke Finsterwalder and co-written by Finsterwalder and Christian Kracht, starring Margit Carstensen, Sandra Hüller, Corinna Harfouch, Christoph Bach, Carla Juri, and Jaku ...

''. In 2019, she appeared in two French films,

Justine Triet Justine Triet (born 17 July 1978) is a French film director, screenwriter and editor. She is a graduate of the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Her debut feature, '' Age of Panic'', was presented as part of the ACID programme at the 2 ...

's ''

Sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditi ...

'', where she played film director Mika, and in

Alice Winocour Alice Winocour (born 13 January 1976) is a French screenwriter and director. Life and career Winocour was born in Paris, France, to a Jewish family. After studying screenwriting at La Fémis, Winocour made three short films and wrote the script ...

's '' Proxima'' as the psychologist Wendy. Hüller portrayed Contess

Irma Sztáray Countess Irma Sztáray de Sztára et Nagymihály (10 July 1863 – 3 September 1940) was a Hungarian courtier and memoirist.Beatrix Meyer: Kaiserin Elisabeth und ihr Ungarn, Allitera, München 2019, ISBN 978-3962331306 She was the last lady-in- ...

in Frauke Finsterwalder's upcoming film ''

Sisi & I ''Sisi & I'' (german: Sisi & Ich) is a 2023 historical black comedy film written and directed by Frauke Finsterwalder and co-written by Christian Kracht, starring Susanne Wolff as Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Sandra Hüller as Countess Ir ...

'', a retelling of the later years of

Empress Elisabeth of Austria Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie in Bavaria (24 December 1837 – 10 September 1898) was Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary from her marriage to Emperor Franz Joseph I on 24 April 1854 until her assassination in 1898. Elisabeth was ...

from the point of view of her

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

, Irma Sztáray. The film is scheduled to be released in Germany on 16 March 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring The Ringelband Foundation has been awarding the Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring with the city of Bensheim and the German Academy of the Performing Arts since 1986. The award is endowed with €10,000. The jury is annually changing. The prize is awarded for a ...

(2019) *

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(2020)

References

External links

* 21st-century German actresses Living people 1978 births People from Suhl German film actresses German stage actresses German television actresses European Film Award for Best Actress winners Best Actress German Film Award winners Silver Bear for Best Actress winners Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-screen-actor-stub