In his nearly 60-year film career, Max von Sydow has been nominated for the Oscar only once. As surprising as that may be, it is even more so considering that his 1988 nod did not come for one of the 11 films he made with fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman. Rather, it was for lead actor under the direction of Dane Bille August in foreign-language film winner "Pelle the Conqueror." This year he could well be nominated for best supporting actor for his small but pivotal role in the French-language film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." As the father of the stroke victim at the center of this Gallic biopic, he only has two scenes under the direction of Julian Schnabel but they are corkers.

At age 78, the screen icon remains at the top of his game. As he tells Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net, "Scripts are not always terribly good unfortunately, so when you get a good one, you're very grateful. I did something which I never have done before. I wrote a note to Ron Harwood to thank him, to congratulate him. I'd never done that." To read more of this interview, CLICK HERE.

For this actor, there really are no small parts. In an interview with Nathaniel R at TheFilmExperience.net , he talks about gearing up to play the part. "How do I prepare? It's a matter of finding out who is this character. Why does he do what he does? Why does he say what he says? And what does he want to achieve in the scenes? It's always, for me, that is the most important part to find out in every scene to know exactly what do I — my character, what does my character want in this situation?" To read more, CLICK HERE.

(Photo: Miramax)