Sandra Huller is overwhelmed by the awards attention she’s getting for two films, “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest.”
“Maybe this happens once in a lifetime,” she says in a Zoom call, a bit surprised. “You just try to take it all in.”
Mentioned for Best Actress honors for “Anatomy,” she plays an often-detached writer who’s on trial for killing her husband.
In “Zone,” which has her numbering among possible Best Supporting Actress contenders, she’s the wife of a Nazi officer living next door to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Both challenging roles, they showcase the 45-year-old Huller in a way “nobody could have foreseen.”
A Cannes Film Festival winner, “Anatomy” raises a number of issues that have resonated with audiences around the world. Among them: Going on trial in a country where you’re not fluent in the language. “It’s really universal,” Huller says.
Language, as a result, “is like another character in the film because it’s so important…her life depends on it.”
The German-born Huller, who also speaks English and French, says being understood is key for her as an actress. “Language was the thing I worked on most.” Because there’s a barrier, audiences aren’t quite sure her character is guilty or innocent. Likewise, Huller.
“When we don’t have all the information, our perception of (a character) changes,” Huller says. “We get some things we like about her and some things we don’t and when we don’t like them, we think, ‘Maybe she’s guilty.’ If I had played a character who’s definitely innocent, I think I would have made other choices. But the balance that you see in the film is something we really, really wanted to achieve.”
Test screenings brought a variety of responses. Director Justine Triet tinkered with editing and got the kind of finished product that opened the door to debate.
While they were filming “Anatomy,” Amber Heard and Johnny Depp were in the news with multi-million dollar defamation suits. “There was a woman in court that I could see almost every day,” Huller says. That helped answer questions about courtroom behavior but it didn’t play a role in her performance. “I would never say it’s connected to her. This is a totally unique case.”
Instead, Huller drew on other aspects of the story – including a song that plays while the couple are arguing.
The film’s prosecutor factored in as well. “He is written very harsh but the way that he’s interpreting it is genius because it’s really going over the top.”
Although the two films (and her previous calling card, “Toni Erdmann”) are foreign productions, Huller has been approached about making films in Hollywood. Interested? “Of course I am,” she says with a smile. “I would love to know how this works. I was asked a few years back but nothing really happened so, let’s see. I’m really curious.”
If Huller lands two Oscar nominations, she’d be in rare company. Twelve actors have been nominated twice in a single year, most recently Scarlett Johansson in 2019.
When she approaches a role, Huller says, she tries to get as close as possible to the character.
“It’s just like they enter my life…and they’re kind of everywhere. My perception of reality changes in a way and I think about them constantly. It’s a bit like falling in love: You’re kind of upset with someone and kind of fantasizing about them.”
