Sandra Hüller
Sandra Hüller (; born 30 April 1978) is a German actress. She  has starred in German, Austrian, American, British and French films and gained critical praise for her portrayal of Anneliese Michel in Hans-Christian Schmid's 2006 drama Requiem, for which she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival, and is best known internationally for her starring role in Maren Ade's 2016 comedy Toni Erdmann, for which she won the European Film Award for Best Actress. She has received six nominations for the German Film Award and won three times. 

In 2023, Hüller portrayed Countess Irma Sztáray, the last lady-in-waiting of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, in Frauke Finsterwalder's historical black comedy film Sisi & I, and also starred in Justine Triet's courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, and in Jonathan Glazer's Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest.

Early life
Hüller was born in Suhl, 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 and then for one year at the Schauspiel Leipzig. It was Oliver Held who recommended her to the Theater Basel, Switzerland where she appeared until 2006.

Career
Prior to the release of Toni Erdmann in 2016, Hüller was best known for her role as Michaela Klingler in Hans-Christian Schmid's film Requiem, for which she won the Berlin Film Festival Award for Best Actress and her first German Film Award in 2006.

In 2014, she won the German Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Franziska Feldenhoven in Frauke Finsterwalder's film Finsterworld.

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 honors of the European Film Academy and Berlin Film Festival, in the 21st century.

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, Irma Sztáray. 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.

Hüller starred in two films that premiered in main competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival; the French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, which won the festival's Palme d'Or, and the American-British-Polish Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, which won the Grand Prix.

Personal life
Hüller lives in Leipzig-Plagwitz, Germany with her daughter, who was born in 2011.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

 Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring (2019)
 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (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