Born in Stuttgart, Nina Hoss acted in radio plays at the early age of seven and appeared on stage for the first time at the age of 14.
In 1997, she graduated from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. Her first major success was the leading role Rosemarie Nitribitt in Bernd Eichinger´s “A Girl Called Rosemary“ in 1996.
She won the Adolf Grimme Award for her role in “Something to Remind Me“ in 2003 and the Adolf Grimme Award in Gold for “Wolfsburg“ in 2005. Both films were directed by Christian Petzold. For her performance of “Yella“ Hoss was awarded with the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival and the German Film Award in 2008. Christian Petzold´s Barbara premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 and the Toronto International Film Festival one year later.
The New York Times wrote about her performance in “A Woman in Berlin” by Max Färberböck: „(…) whose strong frame and graceful bearing suggest both old-style movie-star glamour and Aryan ideals of feminine beauty, is an actress of haunting subtlety, and the film, episodic, ambitious and a few beats too long, is held together by the force of her performance.”
Nina Hoss was a member of the Juries of the Locarno International Film Festival in 2009, and the Berlin International Film Festival in 2011 as well as an ensemble member at the Deutsche Theater in Berlin from 1998 to 2013, folowed by her membership in the ensemble of the Schaubühne theatre in Berlin.
With the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers Hoss recorded the song “Europa geht durch mich” for their album Futurology which was released in 2014.
In 2016, she joined the jury for the 73rd Venice International Film Festival and played in the US hit series “Homeland“. In the movie “Return to Montauk, directed by Volker Schlöndorf and premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2017, Nina Hoss played the leading role.