>> over the past year we welcomed the actors and directors. tonight, we bring you conversations with those nominees. this year's oscar field has one

thing in common, it is a passion for storytelling.

+ >> we begin with "selma." it is the genetic story, the civil rights marches of selma, alabama. in the attempt to liberate dr. king from his legacy, we see him in the context of the movement. he's captured marching and fighting alongside the men and women who have moved the needle of racial progress. >> we are not asking, we are demand in. >> this is a film about voices. >> yes, great minds. it was really about the power of

the people. >> and more than one person. clearly, the people the risk their lives, the people around king. >> also within his camp and the people of selma. >> and the governor of alabama. >> and all of the voices, not a monolith. these are people that have all kinds of ideas about how to achieve quality, justice. that is one of the things we try to create, there were a lot of conflicting points of views. they all kind of coalesced specifically by king. >> how many county judges and alabama? 67. >> all for the film >> you

go. you knew that no one wanted you to do it. and your own liberation of to want to do it. and to endure it. >> what was your goal? >> i feel that even for my generation black people have been top line. they don't live and breathe, it is not part of our dna.

i would say for myself in terms of understanding, a true connection to that time. this is a movement that was at its peak for 13 years. we had 120 minutes. they are replicated relations, strategy, all kinds of things. we are making films. our goal the best word is the spirit of it. >> ♪ one day ♪ >> where did the inspiration come from? >> i was thinking, how can i be an extension of dr. king and the people of the civil rights movement now. how can i be a voice for them.

from what i see going on how can i really say something that is inspirational, that is truthful that is all-encompassing, because obviously dr. king last message it takes all of us to improve things. it takes black, white, latino asian, native americans, different religious backgrounds. i just want to put love into the song and create some, love is not always sitting back being passive. love the standing up for what you believe in. >> richard linklater costs "boyhood" was a labor of love. over that time, it sketches the life of a boy as they grow

separately and together. ethan hawke says the beauty of the film is that as an life, it substitutes time for plot. >> i have dropped conventional notions of plot and replaced it with time. whether it is real-time or a limited amount of time. to me, that becomes the story. it often doesn't make sense on paper.

our lives are really this narrative unfolding. >> dad is trying to find us and he can't. >> it won't be a problem. >> oh, look at you. you are so big. >> i saw the whole film as an exploration of the emergence of self. who are you? are we the same person in first grade as we are when we graduate from high school? how much are we the same, i we different? is it nature, nurture. it is the mystery. what we can figure out, how we get to where we are. >> there is no single thing. >> we can always look at our lives. that is always in hindsight.

it is woman who's doing what she thinks is best for her kids. >> how does your character change and how is it a continuation. >> i thought about my own father when i was six years old. but that he looked like to me? what did he look and feel and sound like to me at high school graduation? they were two very different

men. all of the changes seemed inevitable and hindsight. at the moment, sometimes you never know if you're going to go left or right. that is the way that life always feels. >> what should we understand? >> you get a child's understanding. the movie, you never really know what happened. from a child's point if you --

point of view. >> uncle keaton plays an aging actor that has a defining moment in his life. >> nice to have actors who know what you are trying to do. >> we were very open. all of us were working the same tight rope. if i failed, they would fail. there is no polishing. i cannot hide any bad scenes. we were talking about life. that is the very great

collaboration, family vibe. it is very fragmented. what film should be achieved for me, it is absolutely different. i feel so lazy, the way i did things. it is not needed. it looks little bit, there is a very artificial order. all of the great directors that i have all of my life.

all of those long takes, what contains this reality. this lets you get into what is transpiring because that is how we live our lives. you wake up. the only time that we really enjoyed. that is why we are so addicted to pictures. that is a great cartoon of new york. we did a book. in a way, that brings you to that reality. >> he tells ominous stories. >> sorry, i am popular. >> popular? popularity is the bloody cousin

of prestige. >> the cousin comes flying in at an late hour to save the plan in question. there is lots of pleasures of sticking a fork in the movie industry in artists, and in their pretensions and egos but it is underneath all of this that is deeply relatable by anybody who has ever had that voice in their head of doubt, of self questioning. i not only think that everyone have said bird man, they have flocks of birds that go around them. >> cultural work in the past. commercials and comic strip characters.

>> it is absolutely. >> what is the story he is telling? >> it is how you see yourself, what it all means to not just be an artist, but what you are going to lay on the line and not lay on the line. ultimately, are you being your true self to some degree? it is a lot of stuff. >> you have the capacity to go off script. >> there is none of that. >> and if you do, you let everybody down. >> everybody. in the right spot at the right time. you throw the luxury of multiple takes, multiple angles out. so, if they would ever judge a director, we could do something.

is sort of think about it. it is, at the time you were quick on your feet. then at that night, it hit you. what were we thinking? how did we ever think we could make that movie the way he made that movie. once we talked to this years best actors nominees. reese witherspoon stars in the film "wild" which takes us on

8000 mile journey that was made on foot at the end of -- marriage. julianne moore plays a linguistics professor diagnosed with early onset alzheimer's disease. they spoke on hollywood gender, and their roles. >> more and more, less and less until we know everything about nothing. we can observe these baby steps into -- into a -- >> she starts to notice little blips in her memory and her husband doesn't mention to anyone.

they actually believe that something serious is going on. >> so, you have the ark of the character. >> and about who she is, who are we when we lose how we define ourselves. >> you watch this film and you understand what it is like to live with alzheimer's. >> this is defined by my intellect, my language, my articulation, and now sometimes i can see the words hanging in front of me and i cannot reach them and i don't know who i am. >> you have chosen the films like this throughout our career. this is a role that i want to

play. this is something i can really add value to. >> i never know what i want to play until i see it on the page. that is interesting. if i haven't read it, i don't know. that is what i want to do next. >> the first time i'd seen the disease depicted from the inside. from the perspective of the person who was suffering. so often, we can see it from the point of view of the caretaker. this one is really about what does it mean to experience this loss. >> you like the script as written. >> i have worked with some really great writers. and then you don't want, you are like, no i am not touching this. let's figure out the language.

imc someone who is language specific. i feel like every word that you use, there is power and shape and meaning. and so, i want to give the language that authority. it is really important to me to express themselves. >> amazing. >> when i was 10, in the next book -- >> that is the hardest thing when you get something you did not earn through your own merits. she's had to perform at these books functions. >> she has a fragile sense of self. they have this amazing character to excels, the real amy failed and gave up. and yet, she is meant to go out there and parade herself as a prototype.

she will just be whoever she needs to be to get the best out of the situation. >> who are you? >> i am a moderately influential warlord. i write personality pieces for magazine. >> well, your hands are far too -- for scrimshaw work. so we will see.

>> who are you? >> i am the guy to say all of this awesomeness. >> we moved into this very surreal place where we are satirizing so much. and yet, is a point that you feel the shift in the audience. you see these two players playing each other in a totally different way. i love the idea that for purposes. he is not performing.

>> i feel that they have done such a range of different roles. all of them have a ferocity of spirit. >> is it to the image of you changing? >> yes, and i am ready for change. i don't think i've ever had to do scenes that were so exposing and raw. >> what are you calling upon yourself to make them so real? >> i have certainly had relationships that didn't work out that were devastating. >> and happiness you have known. >> i've known grief, i have known loss, i have said goodbye to people that i love.

>> there is a scene or she falls her knees and said, i miss you. >> my mother's mother died when she was 20 and i didn't understand why she was crying. i held her grief in my body. i held her grief for her for so long. my mom saw the film, she said i could see that you saw me. that is my story. she's a beautiful amazing woman. she's definitely the kind of woman that her mother wanted her to be. i am named after my grandmother. i hope that i make movies that make them laugh and make them feel proud of how strong they

are. >> a tradition of strong women in the south. i go all over the world. >> i don't know any week when men. -- weak women. i am desperate for this to be over. i'm terrified. >> i can make 20 more movies. i can make 20 more movies that matter to me. i just wanted to anything. >> and at long last, you feel in control. >> and i feel that my perspective matters. >> how is it? >> i hope so. i think it is time. i think it is time that we start seeing women for how complex they really are. i want to see those movies. >> wes anderson's films are

known for their singular and stylized world. "the grand budapest hotel" is up for nine academy awards. once you step into a wes anderson film, get red for a lot of venture. >> it has a circle of women into my errors. one of them died. he gets sort of caught up in the family in a fight for the inheritance. >> how did you find the story? >> well, there is a real person. the character is played based on a real person.

an old friend of mine. i started reading this author. only maybe six years or so i started reading his stuff. i had heard of him. the more i read them, i thought that i could do something, i can do my version of his world. >> i place you under arrest for the murder of -- >> i knew there was something fishy. she is been murdered. >> i find that each time we finish a part of the process the script or the shooting or whatever it is, i'm ready to end that. my aim ready to shut it down when we are finished. i am always eager to get onto

the next part. -- i am ready to shut it down when we are finished. to me, the most exhilarating is the shooting of the movie. having the actors. the editing room is a special thing. usually it has its rhythm of each day you make a scene. the rap i get is kind of more into props and wallpaper than into human -- what i care about are these characters. that is what i'm into. i do like to make a world for them that we sort of made from our imaginations and research and all of this kind of stuff. i cannot say that it is an invalid criticism. >> why do you think that is? it is the setting. >> the thing you see the most we have got this square or rectangle that is the movie. the faces are a big part of it.

the clothes and the set, we have this a knot of space to communicate, whenever we are going to communicate. so, i want to work on all of it. our modern -- >> the subject of the imitation game, headed by benedict cumberbatch. the cryptographer led the team that decoded the german -- saving thousands of lives. >> when your agent called, did you know who he was? >> no. you start with this gripped -- script. it is witty, intelligent. and you get drawn into this mystery and who this man is and breaking the code.

and then the tragedy of who he is. and of his demise. the emotional impact of the justice that he was served and what happened to him, the excruciating reality, it is magnified when you realize, i did not know this. i thought, have to tell the story. i want to be part of this film because this man is a hero. he is the father of computer science. >> you need me, a lot more than i need you. >> i like solving problems. and enigma is the most difficult problem in the world. >> and the characteristic of him that you wanted to get at/? >> he was part of this world. he fell everything so keenly. he wanted to be part of this the people he loved and worked with. it was his life love with the

boy that he fell in love with at school. that was a key for me. as an actor, i wanted to understand, and it was inspiring. how to approach the role, we celebrate the fact that he was different. and the prejudices that he suffered, his eccentric behavior which was born out of things that were seen as a disability in those days, maybe illegal. i think it still manages, everything will time he has a chance to do good, even when his body is being racked and his brain ruined, he is still working. he was bringing his horrible tragedy into the world, through this work and science. >> how did you get inside of him? did you watch and read everything you could? that's sadly, there is -- >> sally, there is no footage of

him. there are photos. and you cannot take it -- take a lot from that. but there are anecdotes. there is so much written of his science. so he was as a person, you have to take that basis. and if was a story about him playing chess and -- delighted that his presence. people felt comfortable with him and they felt like they could be themselves around him. >> eddie redmayne is a nominated for his betrayal of stephen hawking. he portrays hawking in his early years at cambridge and his extraordinary career. and the film examines the richness of his family life, it turns out that love might be the month -- most, located equation of all. it is also nominee for best picture. it is the theory of everything.

>> i had to think about what the character's progression would be. you read about him, meet people who knew him but you are making and i do get a guest. the fear was what if i meet him and all of those choices that i made are completely wrong. so there was a great drumroll of anticipation. when i met him, i did send questions and, i had live conversation with him. which was interesting, because people want to know about that specific meeting, but in that three or four hours at that we spent together, he said maybe eight or nine sentences are >> -- sentences. >> what i loved about the scripts, there was a young and vibrant passionate love, but also a love of the subject matter.

and there were the boundaries of love. the physics of love the elements of it are interesting. stephen is in search of this theory of everything, this one equation that explains everything, but it always seems to me or the notion of love, the one thing that we cannot reason. >> the one simple equation that could explain everything. >> tell me about what you had to get, what did you see in terms of the way that he was as a human being? >> there is a lot of documentary material about stephen in the 80's. at that point, he is and he will chair. but before that, there are photographs. and with his disease, there is a rigid quality. and other times, there is a softness or a wilting. how it manifests itself is

different in each person. the early stage, i was looking at photographs. i was talking to the specialist looking at the photos. there is one where he is holding hands with his wife but when you look closer, he is leading all of his weight and talking to the doctor, he would say that at that point he had weaker muscle in his hand. and i took notes on that. and i was trying to find the physicality and my own body. when it came to shooting, the physicality the illness could not be less important to stephen, but he was passionate so it is not a story about a disease. this is a love story. we wanted to make sure that when we were filming we could be free

to play the truth. >> nightcrawler and fox catcher are character studies about men who are driven by the desire to achieve greatness. fox catcher reveals of the story of a billionaire, played by steve carell, and his dysfunctional relationship with world champion wrestling brothers. it is a cautionary tale and a haunting american allegory. robert duval is nominated for best supporting actor in the judge. the ball is joseph palmer, an indiana judge he was facing illness and family reconciliation. this is his seventh oscar nomination. dan gilroy's oscar-nominated screenplay for nightcrawler follows a journalist who is selling footage to tabloids. >> get back.

>> i have videos of stories. >> think about a newscast of a woman running down the street with her throat cut. >> when i heard about this crime photographer and when i moved to los angeles i heard about the modern equivalent of this people would go out with video cameras and it would have scanners and i realize it was a background for a film. it is about an amateur who does not use an iphone, but he uses a very low camera to start and we follow him as he moves up the ladder. >> i want to start -- stop our discussion over prices. when i say my lowest price, that is my lowest price. i arrived it very carefully. >> tell us about the scene. >> this is the full blossoming of an auto didactic, self actualized person who has come into a landscape of you are

hypercompetitive free market and it turns out that he is well-suited for it. he is saying to rené russo, she is the news director, he is saying -- she has been holding most of the cards, but you are realizing, he is the one with the power. >> should we be concerned about the world that you are showing us? >> yes. it is a personal film for me and i think for jake, because i think that i feel certainly that the news of the world, people have social topic tendencies -- social topic -- and on another level, the news tends heavily toward graphic images. unless you can look at other outlets and get a nuanced netgear -- narrative of what is going on, you can walk around and see these things. someone wanders into your neighborhood and maybe you

perceive them as a threat, but maybe they're just going to get a slushy, so it is a local television kind of news, that leans in to get ratings. i think it is something that we should be aware of. >> this is an fair. >> one more word. go on. look around you. you are standing one of the last great cathedrals in this country, bill on the premise that you and your -- and you and you alone are responsible for the consequent is of your actions. >> this is -- since apocalypse now. >> -- >> if you start listening if you do that. you will be rewarded. if you do this on a basic level it is very easy to do that.

>> so you are getting a sense of who he is? >> as people, as actors, not out here. you get here. you know, you go from there and if there is chemistry it will build. it is. in the simplest form. >> tell me about the scene in the bathroom. >> everybody asks about that. >> why do you think they do? >> it is pretty graphic negative. sometimes people don't like to see those things, but you have to show them. i was a little hesitant to do it at first because stepping in your own crap is not something that is enticing, but once you decide to do it and commit, you just do it. you do it all out. you just do it.

>> armie and grandpa still going for ice cream -- are me and grandpa still going for ice cream? >> it is funny. you find the vulnerability in those offset things. will -- you going the confines of your torment. >> what do you hope to achieve? >> this is it. this is all we ever wanted. >> it took you eight years to get this made. >> this film did not make sense to anybody. it didn't make sense to any standardized metric that is used.

when moneyball was wrapping up, i met megan ellis and showed her the script. i talked to her and she disregarded her counsel and took a shot. >> david, there is a lot of work to do. >> let talk about the relationship between the billionaire and the wrestlers. >> i think he cast himself and a role where he would be the leader of these guys. i think he was a very lonely guy , very alienated, i think that he was attracted to the fraternity and culture of these guys who do have a moral code and they are in it for the virtues. >> is at this and allegory on america? x i am drawn into the scenes but you have to be careful about

making a film, you have to acknowledge that in the story but you cannot give all importance to the characters. i see a lot of relevancy. >> you have been living in your brother's shadow all your life. >> i know what you mean. >> it is a quiet film. what it is really about is not get expressed explicitly, so finding a way to coordinate these moments that we, that we register what is happening, what is being unspoken. >> beyond preparing for this, well stood you say to yourself, i need to do to get inside of john duponte's mind? >> the hair and makeup helped.

i worked with a makeup artist who was truly fantastic and had as much to do with developing the character as anyone. he wasn't just putting prosthetics on my face, he was truly thinking about this human being and who he was and what he represented. he had a very specific way of carrying himself, the way that he held his head, the way that he spoke. he was -- had a very particular way of speaking. and he naturally and physically had a look. he was peculiar. i think it was offputting too many. and just being in a semblance of that onset was helpful. it organically worked to my favor. people do not want to be around me. >> american sniper tells the

real-life story of chris kyle, bradley cooper plays the veteran with over 160 kills and four tors of duty. he is considered the most lethal sniper in military history. the film considers the story of a warrior but also the mental struggles that he experienced at home and abroad. and the emotional toll that it takes on families. it received six oscar nominations, including best actor and best picture. >> tell me about him. lex the whole thing -- >> the whole thing and investigation has been interesting. it is like an experiment. i looked at all of the footage. he did tons of interviews, because he was promoting his book. there is so much footage out there. i got to know the way that he breezed -- breathed and the way

that he held his hands. i have very much respect for him. he had such a huge presence and you could tell that the way that he would change the energy in the room. quite likely, he has the ability that eastwood has, the ability to ease everybody in the room. he is a legend. >> i just want to get the bad guys. if i cannot see -- if i cannot see them, i cannot shoot them. >> they feel like they are invincible. >> let these dogs sniff them out. >> did you feel that you had made the movie that you wanted to make, at the end? >> yes. very proud of it. i was worried that i wasn't going to be able to do it. i was very terrified that i was not going to believe that i was chris. once i believed, i have to say,

it when we were shooting the movie clint eastwood goes fast, but i felt chris's presence. a lot of people would come onset and they knew chris, and i could feel the moment that they came up to me, they started to believe it too. >> at the interesting thing is i ask about him as a shot, it was more than just being a great shooter. >> that is right. it was about, a couple of things, he happened to be at the right place at the right time. but he was very savvy in terms of where to set up his gun. he had a knack for that. and he had a knack for finding a possible target. maybe somebody else would have passed right over something. >> in 2013, the journalist -- began receiving e-mails from an anonymous source.

she followed that to hong kong where she met edward snowden. edward snowden is the most infamous whistleblower in history. this film is about the meeting and what would follow. it is nominated for best documentary. --, directed by rory kennedy, is also nominated for best documentary. the last days in vietnam, the trays though -- portrays the end of the war. >> is set to up for the fall of the war. it is in 1975. there are no troops in the country by the time these events take place. u.s. troops went back. the idea was that the north and south with live peacefully.

the north broke that piece, invaded the south, it fell like a house of cards, because the house -- the americans were not there. so, to the outside of the city, they got their very fast. they u.s. -- the u.s. was not prepared. they just wanted to get the u.s. out of the country. they did not have time to get the vietnamese. many of the personnel on the grounds that, not so fast. we cannot leave our being in these friends, family children, behind. these are stories of the extraordinary acts of courage on the parts of the americans and the enemies to save other vietnamese during the final hours. >> there were people who were wanting to get out by helicopters. but, they looked up and saw the

helicopters leaving and you could see their eyes. >> it is an extraordinary story that i think a lot of people are familiar with the iconic image of the helicopter, they think is going to the embassy. there is a desperation of both trying to get out. but many do not know how we got to that point. the film unfolds in a quite dramatic manner, showing the events that took place during those final 24 hours. >> snowden wrote you and asked you -- told you about choosing you. >> i made a film about the iraq war and i started being stopped at the border when i travel.

i didn't ever know why. it was a secret process. and somehow, i was working on this topic for many years, and i became sophisticated at using encryption so that i could protect my source material and communicate securely. then in january, 2013, i received mysterious e-mails from someone saying that they wanted to talk with me and maybe share my encryption key. >> this is not a question of sub muddy -- somebody skulking in the shadow, these are not my issues, these are everybody's issues. i am not afraid of you. you are not going to bully me into silence, like you have with everybody else. >> snowden, who is didn't know at the time, told me that he would come forward as the source. as soon as he said that, i say we need to meet. and i want to film. and i think it is important that we understand your motivation.

i ask for those things as a journalist. and his first response, he said that he felt that he didn't want the story to be about him. he consistently says that he doesn't want to be the focus. he wanted to be on what the government is doing. i told him, your motivation does matter. by the time that i arrived in hong kong, he knew i was coming with a camera. >> for 25 years, this program hasn't celebrated movies and the people who make them. we look for to sunday night and we will follow the nominees -- and we wish the nominees the best possible luck. think you for watching, i am charlie rose. see you next time. ♪

emily: by now, you know his story. the kid who started the social network in his harvard dorm room. grew it to 1.4 billion users. he became one of the wealthiest men in the world. but mark zuckerberg may not be changing the world just yet. taking facebook public has only made it bigger. using billions to expand his empire into photos, messaging, even virtual reality. featuring an epic battle with google, drones, lasers stratospheric hot air balloons to bring the internet to the farthest corners of the earth.