Sandra Hüller to Star as Wolfgang Herrndorf in Maria Schrader’s ‘Work and Structure’
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Sandra Hüller has been confirmed to play the title role in Arbeit und Struktur (Work and Structure), Maria Schrader's screen adaptation of the late German writer Wolfgang Herrndorf's acclaimed memoir. The casting continues Hüller's run of gender-swapped roles, following her turn in Markus Schleinzer's Rose, for which she won the best acting prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival. The project brings together two leading figures of German cinema and is significant for adapting a book widely regarded as a modern literary landmark in Germany.
Herrndorf's memoir, published posthumously in 2013, chronicles the years after his terminal brain tumour diagnosis in 2010 with a mix of humour, despair and hope, and became a major literary success. Schrader, who is co-writing the script with Jan Schomburg, described it as an intimate record of a man fighting against his own disappearance through words. The film is being produced by Komplizen Film alongside France's Haut et Court, Studiocanal and ZDF, with principal photography due to begin in early 2027 and a release in Germany, France and Italy planned for 2028.
- Sandra Hüller confirmed to play Wolfgang Herrndorf in new biopic
- Maria Schrader directs adaptation of Herrndorf's acclaimed memoir
- Filming starts early 2027; release planned across Europe in 2028
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Sandra Hüller is a German actress well known for internationally acclaimed roles, including in Anatomy of a Fall and Toni Erdmann, and has recently taken on several parts originally written for men. Maria Schrader is a German director and former actress whose credits include Unorthodox and I'm Your Man, and she is known for adapting literary material for the screen. Wolfgang Herrndorf was a celebrated German author who died in 2013; his novel Tschick was a bestseller, and shortly before his death he published a memoir about living with a fatal illness.
That memoir, Arbeit und Struktur (Work and Structure), is widely considered an important work of contemporary German literature, praised for combining bleak subject matter with wit and honesty. Adapting it for film is therefore a notable undertaking, bringing together a respected director, a high-profile lead actress, and source material with a strong existing readership and reputation.
The project is an international co-production involving companies from Germany and France, indicating it is expected to reach audiences beyond Germany alone. It is still in early stages, with filming not due to start for some time and release planned several years from now, so the casting news marks an early milestone in what is intended to be a significant literary adaptation.
Full account
Sandra Hüller has been cast as the late German writer and artist Wolfgang Herrndorf in "Arbeit und Struktur" ("Work and Structure"), a film adaptation directed by Maria Schrader of Herrndorf's acclaimed autobiographical account of living with terminal illness. The project pairs two of the most prominent women in contemporary German cinema: Hüller, an Oscar nominee for "Anatomy of a Fall" who has also appeared in "The Zone of Interest" and, this year, "Project Hail Mary" and Paweł Pawlikowski's "Fatherland"; and Schrader, known for "I'm Your Man," "She Said," "Unorthodox" and "Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe." Schrader is writing the screenplay with regular collaborator Jan Schomburg.
Herrndorf began keeping a public online diary after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2010, chronicling the years that followed until his death. The resulting book, published posthumously in 2013, went on to become a publishing sensation in Germany and is widely regarded as one of the most significant works of recent German literature. The film will trace Herrndorf through this period, depicting a life pulled between hospital treatment and creative bursts of energy, as he continued writing, maintained close friendships and a relationship with his partner, and grappled with an emotional range running from panic to calm and from despair to hope, all while pursuing several literary projects at once.
In statements accompanying the announcement, Hüller described having been captivated by Herrndorf's writing since first encountering it, calling it simultaneously surprising, unsettling and comforting, and said portraying him at the point his life was upended, just as he was finding his voice as a writer, was both an honour and a considerable challenge. Schrader characterised the source material as an intimate record of what it means to be alive, in which a man resists his own disappearance through words and becomes, in the face of death, more vividly himself than before; she called bringing that account to the screen one of the most compelling projects she could take on.
The film is being produced by Komplizen Film alongside Studiocanal, Germany's ZDF and the French outfit Haut et Court, with shooting due to start in early 2027. Studiocanal will oversee international sales and plans cinema releases in Germany, France and Italy in 2028. Public funding support named in some reports includes Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Germany's federal cultural film funding scheme, the FFA and Creative Europe's MEDIA programme. The casting continues a run of high-profile roles for Hüller, including another instance of her playing a male historical figure, having earlier taken on a similar gender-swapped part in Markus Schleinzer's "Rose," for which she won a best-acting prize in Berlin this year.
Where outlets differ
Only one outlet (Variety) flags that Hüller could be in contention for two Academy Award nominations this awards season, for 'Project Hail Mary' and 'Fatherland', potentially spanning both lead and supporting categories — the other two reports do not raise this.
Deadline is alone in quoting the film's full official synopsis and in listing the public funding bodies backing the production (Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, federal cultural funding, the FFA, Creative Europe MEDIA).
The Hollywood Reporter is the only outlet to note that this role continues a pattern of Hüller playing male figures, referencing her earlier gender-swapped performance in Markus Schleinzer's 'Rose', for which she won a Berlin acting award this year; it also uniquely describes the memoir's tone as 'often very funny'.
The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline both highlight Komplizen Film's producing history with Haut et Court (on 'Toni Erdmann' and, per THR, Valeska Grisebach's Cannes-winning 'The Dreamed Adventure'), a connection Variety does not mention.
Variety specifies the book's publisher (Rowohlt Berlin Verlag) and frames the diary as growing out of an online journal, a detail the other two reports omit or state more briefly.
Deadline gives added context on Schrader's 'She Said' (its 2021 Berlinale selection) and notes that 'I'm Your Man' star Maren Eggert won a best-acting award, background not included elsewhere.
Coverage
- Variety — Sandra Hüller to Play Male German Writer Wolfgang Herrndorf in Maria Schrader’s ‘Work and Structure’ for Studiocanal
- Deadline — Sandra Hüller To Star As Celebrated Late Male German Artist Wolfgang Herrndorf’s In Maria Schrader’s ‘Work And Structure’