Contents
Nina Hoss
The stage and film actress Nina Hoss was born in Stuttgart, then-West Germany, on 7th July 1975. Despite being active in the entertainment industry since 1996, she’s mainly known for her performances in the movies “Yella” and “Phoenix”, which earned her several prestigious accolades such as the Toronto Film Critics Association Award.
Other highlights in Nina’s career include receiving the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2013, and being appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France two years later.
Nina’s father, Willi Hoss, was a politician and trade unionist, whereas her mother, Heidemarie Rohweder, was an actress turned director, who worked at the Stuttgart National Theatre and Wurttemberg State Playhouse.
Acting Career
Nina began acting in radio plays at the age of seven,, slowly transitioning to stage productions as the years passed. However, her first major success was being cast as Rosemarie Nitribitt in the 1996 period drama “A Girl Called Rosemary”, which was directed by Bernd Eichinger and praised for its no-holds-barred portrayal of West Germany’s post-war days in the 1950s.
A year later, Nina graduated from Berlin’s renown Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts; three years later, she was named one of the Shooting Stars at the Berlin International Film Festival, presented annually by the European Film Promotion to emerging actors from all over the continent; as such, this helped boost Nina’s career enormously.
In the early 2000s, Nina’s work in the Christian Petzold films “Something to Remind Me” and “Wolfsburg” won her two separate Adolf Grimme Awards. Since then, the actress and the director have maintained a close working relationship that has benefited both parties: in 2007 and 2008, Nina won a Silver Bear for Best Actress and a German Film Award for her performance in Christian’s “Yella”. The dynamic duo also collaborated in “Barbara”, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012, and was positively received by viewers and critics.
Nina and Christian came together once again for “Phoenix”, with the actress’s talents being praised by critics at the Washington Post and other important publications. The politician’s daughter later broke into Hollywood thanks to her portrayal of Astrid in “Homeland”, with the recurring role lasting three years; shortly afterwards, she had a starring role in the 2020 miniseries “The Defeated”, and joined the cast of “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”.
From 1998 to 2013, Nina was an ensemble member at Berlin’s Deutsches Theater. In 2013, she joined the ensemble of the Schaubuhne theatre, and starred in “Little Foxes”, “Bella Figura”, and other Thomas Ostermeier productions. Similar to her numerous collaborations with Christian Petzold, Nina would reunite with Thomas in his 2017 stage production “Returning to Reins”.
Surprisingly, Nina has also tried her hand at music, and dueted with the Manic Street Preachers for their single “Europa geht durch mich”, which made it onto their album “Futurology”. The blonde’s latest projects include starring in “Tar” alongside Cate Blanchett, and playing Katia in the action thriller film “The Contractor”.
Committees & Sociopolitical Work
Between 2009 and 2016, Nina was a member of the juries of the 73rd Venice international Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Locarno International Film Festival. In 2010, the actress was also a jury member of the German Film Academy’s First Steps awards, which are traditionally given to young filmmakers who show exceptional promise. In 2012, she was the sole judge of the Alfred Kerr Acting Prize. The “Yella” star has also been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 2019.
It's the final day to watch Christian Petzold's YELLA (2007), JERICHOW (2008), and BARBARA (2012) on the Channel! Don't miss these spellbinding dramas, all starring Petzold's frequent collaborator, the mesmerizing Nina Hoss: https://t.co/E1YG20rZbM pic.twitter.com/cqj0RQpS1l
— Criterion Channel (@criterionchannl) February 29, 2020
Despite a jampacked filming schedule and endless commitments, Nina makes time to support charitable causes such as the Make Poverty History campaign. The actress has also denounced female genital mutilation several times over the years, dubbing it “one of the worst crimes in the name of so-called honor on earth”.
Continuing her father’s work, Nina is currently a Goodwill Ambassador of the State of Para in Brazil, working to improve the living conditions of its indigenous people, and fighting against the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. In 2017, she was one of many actors who signed a petition supporting the openly gay Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, who was accused of embezzlement and had his apartment raided in what many consider to be a political gesture to discourage him from criticizing the country’s government.
Personal Life
Since 2015, Nina has been married to the elusive music producer Alex Silva, whom she started dating in 2003. Although Alex prefers to maintain a low profile, the dedicated artist’s reputation precedes him, as he’s worked with musical heavyweights such as Paul McCartney and Dave Stewart.
Alex’s career in record production began when he relocated to London in 2015. After learning the tricks of the trade from Dave Stewart himself, Alex began regularly working with Jon Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger, and Daryll Hall to name a few. Other projects include producing movie soundtracks for the likes of Ted Demme and Paul Verhoven.
As Alex and Nina are both inactive on social media, it’s hard to know what the steadfast couple do in their free time. The husband and wife team first made headlines in 2020, when Nina admitted during an interview with Bunte magazine that she had already been married for half a decade, which came as a great surprise to her fans and the general public.
When asked if she had ever considered having children, Nina admitted that the thought had at some point crossed her mind, but made it clear that she and Alex didn’t need to expand their family in order to complete their happiness.
Although it’s hard to calculate Alex’s net worth due to the discreet nature of his job, we can confirm that Nina alone is worth over $2 million thanks to her illustrious career. As such, we can surmise that the couple’s joint net worth is in the $3 to $4 million range.
