Kidman Too Pregnant to Read: Winslet Steps In

Kate Winslet gets a trip to Germany, thanks to Nicole Kidman and her worst-kept-secret-pregnancy in the entire world.

Now that Nicole Kidman’s publicist has found out that Nic is pregnant, I guess everyone knows. That means we’re also free to acknowledge that the Oscar-winning Aussie actress (no! Not you, Cate Blanchett!) is dropping out of her next project, The Reader. Now Variety is reporting that another lovely blonde with a cool accent will take the part, namely Kate Winslet (just a reminder, Nicole–no one is irreplaceable).

Winslet was actually the first choice for the Stephen Daldry directed pic, which Variety describes thusly:

“Drama concerns a teen who falls for an enigmatic older woman in postwar Germany.”

However, Winslet was booked for Reservation Road, directed by husband Sam Mendes and co-starring dead Titanic love interest Leonardo DiCaprio, so the role went to Kidman. Now she was busy in Australia with Baz Luhrmann and Hugh Jackman, but The Reader schedule was revised to accommodate her. However, it was all for naught as she now ditches them (Come on, Nicole! What do you have to do in this movie? Sit around and read? No one will notice you’re pregnant! And you need a hit–or at least some Daldry-generated Oscar-bait–bad!). But it all comes full circle now that Kate’s back on board.

The Reader is based on a novel by Bernard Schlink. David Hare wrote the screenplay. It also stars Ralph Fiennes and German actor David Kross. Principal photography on the film has already begun in Berlin and Goerlitz, but no Kidman footage was shot, so no harm, no foul.