Winslet subs for pregnant Kidman
If you need a pale, elegant actress over 30 who can mix strength and pathos, try Nicole Kidman. But what if she's not available?
The producers of "The Reader" turned to Kate Winslet, who will be stepping into the role vacated by Kidman because of her pregnancy, reports People.
It all works out since Winslet was originally offered the role, but scheduling conflicts prevented her from taking it. Now, the timing has worked out like a charm.
The celebrity magazine reports that some scenes with Ralph Fiennes have already been filmed with the intention that Kidman, now Winslet, shoot hers starting next month.
"Reader" is Bernhard Schlink's bestselling novel (and Oprah's Book Club selection) that revolves around an affair between a teenage boy and an older woman (supposedly Winslet) in Germany. At first physical, their relationship becomes something a bit more tender, and after lovemaking, he would often read to her from the German classics. One day, she disappears, and he doesn't see her until years later ... when she's on trial for Nazi war crimes.
Winslet, 32, has been nominated for her roles in "Little Children," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Iris," "Titanic" and "Sense & Sensibility." Her most recent films include "All the Kings Men," "The Holiday" and the upcoming "Revolutionary Road" opposite her "Titanic" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.
Oscar planning continues despite strike: organizers
Though the glitzy gala of its most prominent precursor — the Golden Globes — was scuttled this week, the Academy Awards show will go on, organizers insisted on Tuesday.
Both Gil Cates, longtime producer of the Oscars telecast, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis have stressed in interviews that preparations continue for the Feb. 24 Academy Awards show, despite the ongoing screenwriters strike.
"[The Oscar broadcast] has been on through wars and through presidential assassination attempts," Cates said.
"It would be shameful if the Oscars were in any way impacted."
On Monday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — the group behind the Golden Globes — announced the cancellation of this year's event after the Writers Guild of America refused a request to allow its members to work on the show and vowed to erect picket lines outside if it took place.
In solidarity, the Screen Actors Guild said its members would not cross picket lines to attend.
The HFPA said that this year's winners would be announced at an hour-long news conference on host network NBC. It also postponed a tribute to Steven Spielberg, who was set to receive a lifetime achievement honour, until next year.
The WGA also vowed to deny any similar request from Oscar organizers for writers to work on its broadcast.
Organizers of the People's Choice Awards decided to change their latest edition — which aired Tuesday night — from a live awards show to pre-taped clips of stars presented their trophies in different locations, some while they were doing other things.
The Screen Actors Guild Award show and the Film Independent Spirit Awards are so far only ones granted a waiver to use a striking writer to pen the script for their upcoming events.
Cates quiet on Oscar plans
Plans are still moving forward, Cates said, though he declined to reveal any details about how the Oscars would play out if the strike is still on by Feb. 24.
"I can't elaborate on how we're going to do it because I don't want anybody to deal with the elaboration in a way that might impact its success," he said.
Though viewership numbers have fallen in comparison with past decades, the annual Academy Awards telecast is one of the most watched television events in the world.
Like the writers strike itself, which has shuttered many TV and film productions, the cancellation of the Golden Globes is estimated to have had a significant financial ripple effect on related industries, including event planners, limousine companies, stylists, caterers, estheticians and similar workers.
The strike began Nov. 5 and talks broke off between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Dec. 7.
The guild has since reached independent deals with two independent production companies: David Letterman's Worldwide Pants and Tom Cruise's United Artists Films.
DGA is 'Wild' about Penn
LOS ANGELES - Sean Penn earned a nomination Tuesday as best filmmaker from the Directors Guild of America for his tragic road tale "Into the Wild," along with Joel and Ethan Coen for their bloody crime saga "No Country for Old Men."
Also nominated: Paul Thomas Anderson for his historical epic "There Will Be Blood," starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a baron of California's oil boom in the early 20th century; Tony Gilroy for his legal drama "Michael Clayton," featuring George Clooney as a conscience-torn attorney in a corporate lawsuit; and Julian Schnabel for his real-life memoir "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," with Mathieu Amalric as French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was paralyzed by a stroke.
Penn's "Into the Wild" stars Emile Hirsch in the true-life story of Christopher McCandless, a young idealist whose two-year tramp around America ended in tragedy in the Alaska wilderness.
The Coens' "No Country for Old Men" features Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin in the tale of a sheriff and a vicious killer both on the trail of a good old Texan who makes off with a fortune left behind at a drug deal gone awry.
Except for Joel Coen, previously nominated for "Fargo," the guild choices all were first-time nominees.
Throughout the 60-year history of the guild honours, the winner almost always has gone on to win the best-directing prize at the Academy Awards, including last year's recipient, Martin Scorsese for "The Departed."
The guild will announce the winner at a dinner Jan. 26, four days after Oscar nominations come out. The Oscars are scheduled for Feb. 24.