At the Q&A screening of "The Reader" in New York on Tuesday night, director Stephen Daldry revealed the back story of how Kate Winslet was cast in his film.

"I offered the role first to Kate Winslet, but she couldn't do it because she was busy making 'Revolutionary Road,'" he added. "So I offered it to Nicole Kidman, who I worked with before, and she said yes. We started filming for several weeks, shooting scenes she wasn't in, when we got word that she was pregnant. So I went back to Kate Winslet, who was available at that point."

The reason that Daldry approached Winslet first was because she was the top choice of Bernhard Schlink, who wrote the popular book upon which the film is based. (It's compulsory reading in German schools, he noted. Here in the U.S., it was included in Oprah Winfrey's Book Club.)

The last time Nicole Kidman teamed up with Daldry it was in "The Hours," which was based on a popular book translated to the screen by the same writer, David Hare. Is that a good omen now for Winslet? If so, perhaps Kidman might've won a second Oscar for teaming up with Daldry and Hare again? Won't it be curious if the two stars end up facing off this year in the lead actress contest for "The Reader" and "Australia"?

Photo: Miramax