Oscar On Line One

People had counted you out.
Here's the irony. It's three years! I haven't had an Oscar contender in three years. I had 15 best-picture nominees out of 16 years. That's never been done before.

We've read so much about trouble with "The Reader." What happened after Nicole Kidman got pregnant and dropped out?
Before Kate came onboard, Anthony Minghella, myself and Scott Rudin had a conversation. I said, "Scott, she's got her husband's film 'Revolutionary Road.' I think we should have insurance." I had Marion Cotillard, the French actress, go to Germany and shoot a screen test. She was great. Then we contacted Naomi Watts. She's available. Then we redid the conversation and said these people are available. Stephen [Daldry, the director] wanted to work with Kate.

You and Scott Rudin battled about the film's release date.
There were just delays. All of a sudden—news flash!—the movie can't come out this year. After arguing back and forth, I accepted Stephen Daldry's decision. The movie wasn't going to come out this year.

You agreed? Because in an e-mail from Daldry that was leaked in August he was pleading with you for a 2009 release date, which is what Rudin also wanted.
That was later. What happened is, we're shooting the sex scenes. Stephen writes an extra eight days, which is like $1.3 million. I say, "We don't need this," but the dialogue opens up. "What if Harvey gave you the money and you give him the means to release the movie this year?" The bargain was, we'll test the movie. If the movie tests over 70 [on a 100 scale], I'll release it this year. The movie tested a 77.

One blog did say that you inflated the numbers.
There's a thing on the blog that says all sorts of nonsense. We kept all 234 names, so that Scott or any independent person could go through the list. I wanted it to be that airtight.

Why did you put Winslet in the supporting-actress category?
My understanding was that was so it wouldn't get in the way of her husband's film. But the Academy clearly said, "You guys are completely full of s––t. It's an insult to all the girls in supporting." This is why I always love the Academy. They're so just at the end.

Why did Rudin take his name off the film?
I think he had to be loyal to "Doubt" and he had to be loyal to "Revolutionary Road" [both of which Rudin also produced]. It became an overwhelming situation for him.