‘I struggle to see myself as someone special’: Sandra Hüller on being the star of four – or, possibly, five – of the year’s biggest films

Sandra Hüller says she finds it difficult to see herself as special, despite starring in several of the year’s most prominent films. Her new film, *Fatherland*, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, takes her back to postwar Germany and prompts her to reflect on East Germany’s damaged socialist hopes and the gradual rise of fascism.

In *Fatherland*, Hüller plays Erika Mann, driving her novelist father Thomas through a newly divided Germany. She argues that the film gives space to grief and political ideas associated with the former GDR, where she grew up and still lives. Her other 2026 releases include *Project Hail Mary*, which grossed $684 million, *Digger* and *Rose*; the clustering of these varied films has renewed Oscar speculation.