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 union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

ist and politician (member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Comm ...

with The Greens). Her mother, , was an actress at Stuttgart National Theatre and later director of the Esslingen-based Württemberg State Playhouse ( Württembergische Landesbühne Esslingen).

Career

Hoss acted in radio plays at the age of seven and appeared on stage for the first time at the age of 14. In 1997, Hoss graduated from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. Her first major success was the title role Rosemarie Nitribitt of Bernd Eichinger's '' A Girl Called Rosemary'' in 1996, a period drama (based on an actual scandal) set in the 1950s that looks back at the days of West Germany's postwar '' Wirtschaftswunder'' with, what a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review calls a "curdling cynicism". In 2000, Hoss was one of the Shooting Stars at the Berlinale. Her close collaboration with director Christian Petzold has been extremely successful: she won the 2003

Adolf Grimme Award The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Something to Remind Me'' and two years later the Adolf Grimme Award in Gold for ''

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...

''. Her performance of '' Yella'', earned her the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007 and the German Film Award in 2008. Another collaboration with Petzold, '' Barbara'', in which Hoss plays a doctor exiled to an East German provincial backwater in 1980, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 and the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

in 2012. In a review of her 2009 film ''

A Woman in Berlin ''A Woman in Berlin'' (german: Eine Frau in Berlin) is a memoir by German journalist Marta Hillers, originally released anonymously in 1954. The identity of Hillers as the author was not revealed until 2003, after her death. The memoir covers th ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' remarked that Hoss, "whose strong frame and graceful bearing suggest both old-style movie-star glamour and Aryan ideals of feminine beauty, is an actress of haunting subtlety, and the film, episodic, ambitious and a few beats too long, is held together by the force of her performance." ''The

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

,'' reviewing '' Phoenix'' (2015), again directed by Petzold, wrote "Hoss’s breathtaking portrayal, especially in the film’s final minutes, makes it clear why director Christian Petzold has made a habit of working with her". She later made her name in Hollywood playing a German agent in three seasons of the series '' Homeland'' (2014–17). Hoss starred in the 2020 miniseries ''

The Defeated ''The Defeated'', also known as ''Shadowplay'', is a 2020 television series. Plot New York Police Department Detective Max McLaughlin gets assigned to post- World War II Berlin by the United States Department of State to help organize and est ...

'', and will be a series regular in season three of ''

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan ''Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'' (also known simply as ''Jack Ryan'') is an American political action thriller television series, based on characters from the fictional "Ryanverse" created by Tom Clancy, that premiered on August 31, 2018, on Amazon ...

'' in 2022. As a stage actress, Hoss was an ensemble member at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin from 1998 to 2013, where she appeared as

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jaso ...

and as Franziska in '' Minna von Barnhelm'' (2005). In 2013, she joined the ensemble of the

Schaubühne The Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz (Theatre on Lehniner Square) is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located on the Kurfürstendamm boulevard. It is a conversion of the ''Universum'' cinema, built according to plans desig ...

theatre in Berlin. There, she starred in three productions by director

Thomas Ostermeier Thomas Ostermeier (born 3 September 1968, Soltau, West Germany) is a German theatre director. He currently mainly works for the Schaubühne. Biography Ostermeier began his theatrical career in 1990 acting under director Einar Schleef, one of hi ...

, including Lillian Hellman's 'Little Foxes' (2014) and the world premiere of Yasmina Reza's ''Bella Figura'' (2015). In his stage production (2017) of

Didier Eribon Didier Eribon (born 10 July 1953) is a French author and philosopher, and a historian of French intellectual life. He lives in Paris. Life Didier Eribon was born in Reims into a working-class family. He was the first in his family to finish ...

's book ''Returning to Reims,'' her starring role drew autobiographically from her relationship with her father and his activist politics. Hoss recorded a duet with the Welsh rock band

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

called "Europa geht durch mich" ("Europe goes through me") for the album '' Futurology'' which was released on 7 July 2014. Hoss features on the 2021 album ''Bright Magic'' by Public Service Broadcasting. She stars in Tár alongside

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received n ...

as Sharon Goodnow, a violin player who is the partner of conductor Lydia Tár. In the film, Hoss plays the first violin of an orchestra, a rare position for a woman.

Other activities

Hoss has been a member of the juries of the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

in 2009, the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 and the

73rd Venice International Film Festival The 73rd annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2016. English director Sam Mendes was the President of the Jury for the main competition. The opening night film was Damien Chazelle's musical ''La La Lan ...

in 2016. In addition, Hoss was a jury member of the German Film Academy's First Steps awards for young filmmakers in 2000. She served as the sole judge of the 2012 Alfred Kerr Acting Prize at the Berliner Theatertreffen. In 2018, she was part of the jury that awarded the first-ever ''Wortmeldungen'' Prize for Literature of the Crespo Foundation. Since 2019, Hoss has been a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

Social and political commitment

Hoss supports the

Make Poverty History Make Poverty History are organizations in a number of countries, which focus on issues relating to 8th Millennium Development Goal such as aid, trade and justice. They generally form a coalition of aid and development agencies which work togethe ...

campaign and fights female genital mutilation. She is quoted as saying, "For me, genital mutilation, torture, is one of the worst crimes in the name of so-called honour on earth. I dream that it will be possible for this form of domination over women to be abandoned." In continuation of the work of her father she is committed as a Goodwill Ambassador of the State of

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana a ...

in Brazil against the destruction of the rain forest and to improve the living conditions of the indigenous people living there. In 2017, she joined

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...

and others in signing a petition in support of Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov and a crack down on artistic expression. Hoss served as an Alliance 90/The Greens delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

in 2004 and 2010.

Personal life

Hoss married British music producer Alex Silva in 2015 after having been in a relationship with him for 12 years. They have no children. Hoss has received numerous state honors, including the

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 ...

(2013) and was appointed a ''

Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is t ...

'' in France (2015).

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Special Awards

* 1997 –

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past. The gold-plat ...

/Lilli Palmer Memorial Camera, ''A Girl Called Rosemarie'' * 1999 – Montreal World Film Festival, ''The Volcano'' (''Der Vulkan'') * 2000 – Shooting Stars Award by

European Film Promotion European Film Promotion (EFP) is an international promotion organisation and a unique network of 38 national film promotion institutes who represent films and talent from their respective territories. Under the EFP flag, the members team up on ini ...

at the Berlin International Film Festival * 2019 – Douglas Sirk Award * 2023 – Santa Barbara International Film Festival - Virtuosos Award, '' Tár''

References

External links

* *
Ensemble Schaubühne Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoss, Nina 1975 births Living people 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses Actresses from Berlin Actresses from Stuttgart German film actresses German radio actresses German stage actresses German television actresses Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Best Actress German Film Award winners Silver Bear for Best Actress winners Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg