[4][5] She is the elder of two children,[6] with parents who were educators;[7] her father taught at a center for apprentices, her mother gave after-school tutoring.

[10] In high school,[7] Hüller had her stage debut with the 1996 production Wir Voodookinder directed by Robert Lehniger at the Theatertreffen der Jugend in Berlin.

[11] From 1996, Hüller studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin,[12] graduating in 2003.

[13][14] After graduating, Hüller left Berlin and spent two years at a theatre southwest of Leipzig, then moved to Switzerland to join the Theater Basel.

[24] From 2012 to 2015, Hüller was a member of the company[25] at the Munich Kammerspiele, where she worked with director Johan Simons on several plays,[26] notably Elfriede Jelinek's Die Straße.

[32][5] In 2019, Hüller was part of the 69th Berlin International Film Festival's jury, chaired by Juliette Binoche.

[35] In 2023, Hüller portrayed Countess Irma Sztáray in Frauke Finsterwalder's historical black comedy film Sisi & I, a retelling of the later years of Empress Elisabeth of Austria from the point of view of her lady-in-waiting.

[38] In 2023, Hüller starred in two films that premiered in main competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival;[39] the French legal drama Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, which won the Palme d'Or,[40] and the American-British-Polish Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, which won the Grand Prix.

[40] She won her second European Film Award for Best Actress for Anatomy of a Fall, while also being nominated for The Zone of Interest.

[47] In 2024, Hüller appeared in the first-ever advertising campaign of Phoebe Philo's eponymous fashion brand.