Sandra Hüller is already one of Germany’s most celebrated stars, being one of a few German actors to win the European Film Award and the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival (she received the latter for her very first project, Requiem). But the 45-year-old, who has starred in German, Austrian, British, and French films, is having a breakout year with a pair of roles that have launched her to new heights: Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest and Justine Triet’s courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, in which Hüller plays a woman suspected of killing her husband. With Anatomy, she’s already clinched a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nomination and is predicted to score an Oscar nod as well.
In Anatomy of a Fall, your character may or may not have killed her husband. Did you feel you needed to know if she truly had committed this crime?
There was a moment in preparation when I had the feeling that I had to find out if she killed her husband, but I realized that this is not really what the film is about, so I let the question go. I played the question.
You also star in The Zone of Interest, which is the devastating, chilling story of the commander of Auschwitz and his family. They live alongside the concentration camp, and the matriarch—whom you play—is happily raising her children, tending her garden, living her best life while the Jewish people are being murdered next door. Was it a hard film to make?
It was a really difficult choice, because I didn’t want to be involved with any Nazi tales. I think what the director, Jonathan Glazer, wanted to achieve was to make their lives as empty and meaningless as possible. He always told us, “Even when they’re in the garden or with their kids, they don’t feel anything.” There was a really big void that we had to deal with all the time.
Sandra Hüller wears a Louis Vuitton jacket, dress, and tights; Christian Louboutin shoes.
The dog in The Zone of Interest is actually your own dog.
That was very helpful. I’m very grateful to my dog.
What was the first movie role that you booked?
A German movie called Requiem, about a girl with epilepsy who thinks she’s possessed by the devil. It was a really good film. I never made any commercials—I was always employed by the theater.
Did you have any cinematic crushes?
Lots! I remember watching Dirty Dancing, and I was, of course, in love with Patrick Swayze. I wanted to be Baby!
Senior Style Editor: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Senior Fashion Market Editor and Menswear Director: Jenna Wojciechowski. Hair for portfolio by Mustafa Yanaz for Dyson at Art+Commerce; makeup for portfolio by Emi Kaneko for Tom Ford at Bryant Artists; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders for Chanel. Set design by Peter Klein at Frank Reps.
Produced by Connect the Dots; Executive Producer: Wes Olson; Producer: Zack Higginbottom; Production manager: Nicole Morra; Production coordinator: David Cahill; First photography assistant: Trevor Pikhart; Second photography assistant: Jeremy Eric Sinclair; Digital Technician: Brendan Pattengale; Postproduction by Lucas Rios Palazesi at Quickfix; Fashion assistants: Tori López, Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, India Reed, John Celaya, Kaamilah Thomas, Emily Cancelosi, Allie Kessler, Juliana Bassi, Karla Garcia, Jacqueline Chen, Cosima Croquet; Production assistants: Mateo Calvo, Aspen Miller, Nico Robledo, Griffin Koerner, Danielle Rouleau, Nicolo Battaglini, Juanes Montoya, Juan Calvo, Lily Cordingley, Nathan Gallie, Cameron Hoge, Jack Fahey, Cole Ewing, Karlie Ofstedahl; Hair assistants: Takao Hayashi, Andres Copeland; Makeup assistants: Amelia Berger, Willie Huang; Manicure assistants: Rachel Messick, Marissa Asprer; Set assistants: Christopher Crash Richard, Winston Willingham; Tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Elma Click, Gayane Mnatsakanyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.