2023 is the year of Sandra Hülser (45). And not just in Germany. On Monday, the German actress was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actress for her tour de force in the French legal drama “Anatomy of a Case.”
A day earlier, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association named Hülser Actress of the Year. For “Anatomy of a Case” and the British concentration camp drama “The Zone of Interest”. In it she plays Hedwig Höß, the wife of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höß. Just one day earlier, Sandra Hülser won the European Film Prize in Berlin for “Anatomy of a Case”. The exceptional actress was also in the running for “Zone of Interest”. As the first person with a double nomination in an actor category.
Sandra Hülser was born in Suhl in Thuringia in 1978, the daughter of a teacher couple. She performed theater at school and took part in workshops privately. After graduating from high school, she studied at the renowned Ernst Busch acting school in Berlin. She was then a member of the ensemble in Jena, Leipzig, Basel, Munich and Bochum.
So a normal theater career. Even if it is very successful. Sandra Hülser was named actress of the year four times in the important critics’ survey conducted by the trade magazine “Theater aktuell”. Women’s record.
Her first leading role in a feature film immediately attracts a lot of attention. In 2005’s “Requiem” she played a young woman who believes she is possessed by the devil. That’s why there’s the German Film Prize. As a result, the mother of one daughter established herself as a reliable leading and supporting actress in German film and television.
Then in 2016 the late and surprising international breakthrough: Sandra Hülser plays the female lead in “Toni Erdmann”. At the Cannes Film Festival, the tragicomedy caused a buzz in the worldwide press. A nomination for best non-English language film follows. She was also there in the German entry for the 2022 Oscar, “I am your human being”.
Sandra Hülser is now also being cast in international (co-)productions. For example in the space film “Proxima” alongside the French Eva Green (43) and the US star Matt Dillon (59). Or in “Sibyl – Therapy is pointless” by the French Justine Triet (45). The filmmaker is so enthusiastic about the German that she wanted her to play the lead role in “Anatomy of a Case”. The rest is history.
What’s the next step for the exceptional actress? First of all, an Oscar nomination is likely due in January 2024.
