Sandra Hüller: Quadruple Oscar Threat, Two Potential Lead Actress Noms for ‘Fatherland,’ ‘Rose’ [VIDEO]

Is anyone having a better cinematic year than Sandra Hüller?

Okay, maybe Penélope Cruz. And you can also make an argument for Anne Hathaway–I do love that they’re all female! But it’s Hüller who has two outstanding lead and two scene-stealing supporting performances in two extraordinary foreign-language pics and two big-budget studio movies, respectively.

Hüller’s starring roles are in International Feature Oscar submissions, Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, Poland’s entry, and Markus Schleinzer’s Rose, which won her the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at this year’s Berlinale and is Austria’s pick. Both are set in the past.

In Fatherland, she plays a fictionalized version of Erica Mann, daughter of famed author Thomas Mann, who fought fascism all her life. The film is set in Germany in 1949 as the Mann returns to a gutted country (in so many ways) to journey from west, Frankfurt, to Weimar in the east—both now under the guidance (and I use that word loosely) of the Americans and the Soviets. Hüller delivers a powerhouse performance, certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination.

Her role in Rose is that of a woman taking on the identity of a man, for many reasons, including wanting more out of life than women were allowed at the time (and throughout the centuries). Her performance in this gritty, poetic work is more of an embodiment…and immersion—so different from Erica in Fatherland, yet most definitely one worthy of awards attention.

Earlier in the year, in Phil Lord & Christopher Miller’s blockbuster hit Project Hail Mary, she managed to steal scenes from Ryan Gosling (I’m sure not intentionally, but she can’t help it) and sing a contemplative and haunting version of Harry Styles’ “A Sign of the Times,” one of the most memorable moments in cinema this year so far.

And, rounding out her big screen quartet is a wacky turn in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s upcoming Digger, opposite Tom Cruise.

She could receive multiple Oscar nominations in 2027, even in the same category, thanks to the new rule change that kicks in for films released this year.

Hüller was previously nominated for Justine Triet’s remarkable Anatomy of a Fall (2023), the same year she was featured in Jonathan Glazer’s International Feature Oscar winner, The Zone of Interest.

The thesp is a celebrated stage actress in her home country of Germany and has appeared in a many acclaimed international films in the last two decades including Requiem(2006), Strings (2012) Toni Erdmann (2016, Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination), In the Aisles (2018), Sibyl (2019), I’m Your Man (2021), Munich — The Edge of War (2021) and Sisi & I (2023).

Project Hail Mary is currently available to stream and on 4K-UHD and was released, earlier this year, by Amazon MGM Studios.

Digger is being released in theaters, by Warner Brothers Pictures, on October 2, 2026.

Fatherland is in theaters October 23, 2026, via MUBI. My review of FATHERLAND.

MUBI will also release Rose in the U.S. on December 11, 2026. My review of ROSE.

Both Fatherland and Rose are screening at this year’s New York Film Festival. TIX/MORE INFO

The Contending was unashamedly giddy VIDEO chatting with Hüller.