Nina Hoss, born July 7, 1975 in Stuttgart, as the daughter of Heidemarie Rohwedder (artistic director of Württembergische Landesbühne) and Willi Hoss (chairman of the works council at Daimler-Benz), started her career at the age of seven as a voice in radio plays and made her stage debut at the age of 14. From 1995 to 1998, she attended drama school at Hochschule Ernst Busch in Berlin and became a cast member of Deutsches Theater, also in Berlin. Hoss made her movie debut in 1996 in Joseph Vilsmaier"s "Und keiner weint mir nach" ("And Nobody Weeps For Me"). In the same year, she made her breakthrough performance in the title role of "Das Mädchen Rosemarie" ("A Girl Called Rosemarie"), Bernd Eichinger"s TV remake of the classic German movie from the 1950s. Her portrayal of the high-class call girl Rosemarie Nitribitt, who was murdered in 1957 in Frankfurt, won Hoss the Goldene Kamera award as best new actress. But besides her film work, Nina Hoss continued to perform on stage during the following years.

In 2001, Nina Hoss started to work with director Christian Petzold and subsequently became his favourite actress. In the TV movie "Toter Mann" ("Something to Remind Me"), Hoss played the mysterious Leyla who starts a romantic affair with a lawyer but hides her true motives. In Petzold"s next film, "Wolfsburg" (2003), Hoss was seen as Laura, a woman who unknowingly falls in love with the man who had run down her son in a hit-and-run accident. Hoss won the Grimme award for both parts in 2003, and 2005 respectively. Furthermore, Hoss also won the Bavarian film award for her performance in the leading role as a tourist who falls in love with a Kenyan Massai warrior in Hermine Huntgeburth"s successful drama "Die weiße Massai" ("The White Massai", 2005).

In "Yella", her third film with Christian Petzold, Hoss plays a woman from a small town in East Germany who wants to start a new life in West Germany but cannot really leave her old life behind. Her performance as Yella won Hoss the Silver Bear as best actress at the 2007 Berlinale film festival and the German Film Award in 2008. in 2007, Hoss also won one of the most important German theatre awards, the Gertrud Eysoldt ring, for her performance as "Medea" in the production of Deutsches Theater Berlin.

Besides "Yella", two other films in 2007 featured Hoss in the lead role, "Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald" ("The Heart is a Dark Forrest") by Nicolette Krebitz, and "Hannah" by Erica von Moeller. In October 2008, her next feature film was published, "Anonyma - eine Frau in Berlin"; the fourth project together with director Christian Petzold, "Jerichow" started in January 2009.

At the End of 2010 Nina Hoss played a leader of female vampires in Berlin in "Wir sind die Nacht" ("We Are the Night") by director Dennis Gansel. In February 2011 Nina Hoss was invited to the jury of the competition at the International Filmfestival of Berlin.