The 2016 movie that was supposed to launch Sandra Hüller’s Hollywood career: “Nothing happened”
While she had already been acting for over a decade, Sandra Hüller delivered one of the great modern comedy performances in Toni Erdmann, a bizarre French film in which she plays a straight-laced business executive whose life is disrupted by the presence of her eccentric father, played by Peter Simonischek.
The film shocked audiences at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, where it received rave reviews, and although many considered it to be a possible contender for the Palme d’Or, Toni Erdmann was snubbed in all major categories, which certainly ignited some controversy among the pundits.
It was nonetheless released to great acclaim in international markets, and Hüller was praised by many critics as being destined for greatness in Hollywood. Even though Toni Erdmann itself ended up earning an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best International Feature’, Hüller wasn’t offered any strong opportunities in the aftermath.
“Nothing happened after,” she admitted, “It can just be over in a minute, and that’s okay.”
It’s easy to forget that the international contingency of the Academy Award has been greatly expanded in recent years, and that previously it was far less common for non-English language films to receive major nominations. The unfortunate reality is that many Hollywood studios won’t go near international titles and stars unless they are certified as being an established brand, which can generally only be confirmed through a major recognition in an award ceremony.
Ironically, Hüller got the breakthrough she was looking for without ever having to step back into Hollywood. Her performance in the 2023 legal drama Anatomy of a Fall was met with rave reviews at that year’s Cannes Film Festival, and eventually led her to receive an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Actress’.
It was at the same festival that she also appeared for a supporting role in Jonathan Glazer’s riveting Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest, and since both were nominated for ‘Best Picture’, it was impossible for Hollywood to ignore Hüller for much longer. Her work has steadily been more acclaimed, and 2026 is unequivocally her year because she is in four major new releases. Hüller began the year by giving a performance in the German drama Rose, for which she won the Silver Bear award for ‘Best Leading Performance’ at the Berlin Film Festival.
She also delivered a major supporting performance in Project Hail Mary, one of the year’s biggest hits and most acclaimed films, and went on to receive raves for her leading part in Fatherland, a historical drama from Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski that debuted at Cannes. Later this year, she will co-star with Tom Cruise in the highly anticipated dark comedy Digger.
While it’s great to see her finally being acknowledged for her genius, Hüller’s performance in Toni Erdmann still stands out as one of her most impressive because of the challenge it was to balance the film’s opposing tones of emotionally devastating and uproariously hilarious. There was a brief period in which an American remake starring Kristen Wiig and Jack Nicholson was suggested, but it failed to materialise, and maybe that’s for the best.
