Sandra Hüller On ‘Anatomy Of A Fall’ & ‘The Zone Of Interest’, Two Films That Rocked Cannes And Are Creating Major Oscar Talk For This International Sensation – The Actor’s Side

Sandra Hüller was called the “Queen Of Cannes” earlier this year when two of her films not only rocked the festival in May, they finished one-two when the day came to hand out awards. Anatomy Of A Fall from director Justine Triet was winner of the Palme d’Or while The Zone Of Interest from director Jonathan Glazer landed just under that as the Grand Prize winner. Because those films won the big awards, Hüller herself could not claim Best Actress there because the festival encourages the jury to spread the awards out without mulitplying wins for any one movie. There is no question she was the actor of the fest however, and there has been much speculation that she could find herself nominated for Oscars in both the Actress (Anatomy Of A Fall) and Supporting Actress (Zone Of Interest) categories for her two extraordinary roles this year.

The German star joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series, The Actor’s Side to talk about both films, the amazing year that 2023 has turned out to be for her, working with several female directors, the complexity of the characters she chooses to play, her past successes in comedies like Toni Erdmann and I’m Your Man (in which she played an android), the casting of her own dog in Zone Of Interest, and many other topics.

In Anatomy Of A Fall in which she plays the German wife of a French man she is accused of murdering, she not only performs much of it in English, but also French. In The Zone Of Interest, which opens in America on December 15, she plays a German wife living an idyllic life with her Nazi Commandant husband and family just outside the gates and horrors of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp during WWII. Both films are also strong Best Picture Oscar contenders and Zone is also an official UK entry for Best International Film.

Our interview took place as the actors strike was still in progress, but because both companies behind her current films, NEON and A24, are not affiliated with the AMPTP she was able to appear, but as she explains, the issues the strike brought up are very important to her. Ratification voting continues to take place by SAG-AFTRA until December 5.

To watch our conversation and to get the ‘actor’s side’ of it all from Sandra Hüller just click on the link above.

Join me every Wednesday during Oscar season for a new episode of The Actor’s Side