and then when you add that it was steven's project, that eventually tony kushner wrote the screenplaynd daniel day- lewis was lincoln, how would i not want this project? cpl,icated under-examined, really maligned and unbelievable important female american character, and steven had originally asked me, like in 2005, to be mary, but he didn't have the project, really. it was something he wanted to do. he was developing it. he had a screenplay, but it wasn't going to be right. i was, of course, beyond thrilled. i was overjoyed. then when i got in the car to drive home from that meeting, a little voice inside of me said, "nah, not so quick, field. it'll be a journey, and you may not win." the screenplays came and went and writers came and went, and eventually, tony kushner came on board, who honestly wrote the most exquisite piece of writing perhaps i have ever read. there was another actor attached to it at the time, and he had dropped out for personal reasons, some tragedy in his life. then daniel came on board, and there'd been so many years between the time that steven originally aske

you take tony kushner's magnificent complicated screenplay and you put all those pieces together of all the research i had done, the interior and the exterior. i gained 25 pounds to try to, you know, reach the girth, the roundness that she was. then you shake it up and you let it go and you stand in front of the exquisite talent of daniel day lewis and let her be. i had no preconceived ideas. i had no notion where she was going. there are scenes of great grief and scenes of great anguish and anger and then levity. she was imperious and she had a feeling of entitlement and she was also devoted to her husband. had there not been a mary todd, there would not have been an abraham lincoln. that is simply a fact. she was breathtakingly smart, highly educated, came from a powerful political family in the south and found him as a young lawyer. he was really nothing but a lawyer and she recognized his brilliance and said that's the man i'll marry and he'll be president, and she went about to help him do that. tavis: first of all, before i go any further, the most important question i'll ask, how

>> well i think, yes, by the way a buffalo way of putting it was tony kushner at the film critic awardswhen he was accepting his award for screen writing for lincoln, he turned to the actor and said, i can only describe your performance as daniel day-lewis ian and what he meant was, he is one of a kind. >> rose: yes. >> you have to feel bad because the other actors in this category are some, quite -- i thought denzel washington, i didn't think it was a great movie but i thought his performance the way he played this really kind of damaged, angry -- >> rose:. >> he was drunk. it is a movie about lying. any high functioning alcoholic has to lie constantly and i thought denzel washington really got that. >> up to the very end. so if day-lewis weren't there denzel washington might have won. >> rose: his third time, isn't it? has he won two or not? >> one best actor and one supporting. >> training day. >> rose: let me talk about supporting actor, christopher waltz is there, i do not de niro is there, hoffman is there, and who else. >> tommy lee jones, and i thought he was rivetting. >> and a

tony kushner for "lincoln." david o.life of pi." >> these are adapted screen plays, keep in mind. that means the writers basically copied stuff from microsoft word andpasted it into final draft. >> for best original screen play, the nominees are john gatins for "flight." mark boal for "zero dark 30." quentin tarantino for "django unchained." michael haneke for "amour" and wes anderson and roman coppola foreman rice kingdom. >> for best achievement in directing, the nominees are david o. russell for "silver linings playbook." ang lee for "life of pi." steven spielberg for "lincoln." michael haneke for "amour" and benh zeitlin for beasts of the southern wild. these are five people who are the very best at sitting in a chair watching other people make a movie. >> the nominees for best performance by an actor in a leading role are daniel day-lewis in "lincoln." denzel washington in "flight." hugh jackman in "les miserables." bradley cooper in "silver linings playbook". juaquin phoenix in "the master." a little fun fact for y

tony kushner for "lincoln." david l. russell for "silver linings playbook."hese are adapted screenplays. keep in mind, that means the writers copied stuff from microsoft word and pasted it into final draft. [ laughter ] >> for best original screenplay, the nominees are -- john gatins for "flight." mark boal for "zero dark thirty." quentin tarantino for "django unchained." michael haneke for "amour." and wes anderson and roman coppola for "moonlight kingdom." >> for best achievement in directing. david o. russell for "silver linings playbook. ang lee for "life of pi." steven spielberg for "lincoln." michael haneke for "amour." and benh zeitlin for "beasts of the southern wild." these are five people who are the very best at sitting in a chair, watching other people make a movie. >> the nominees for best performance by an actor in a role are. daniel day-lewis in "lincoln." denzel washington in "fight." hugh jackman in "les miserables." bradley cooper in "silver linings playbook." and joaquin phoenix in "the master." a little fun fact for you. denzel's character

i think a lot of the credit for that choice goes to tony curb kushner, who grappled with the materialr a very long time, wrestled with it, wrote several drafts, very long drafts until he found that nugget of that period of time of that fight. and i agree with david. i think this is just this cultural, you know, information is sexy. process is sexy. >> politics, i keep telling people, if you don't like politicians, think about the alternative. if you don't have people to have a little bit of pizazz, a little bit of moon shine, a little bit of, you know, cleverness in connecting with people. >> moxie. >> you don't have a democracy, david. you can't just have dictatorial power in the hand of the all mighty. >> exactly. this is how things work in a democracy. but also, remember that we've become obsessed with winners, okay. "american idol" and oscars and you know, by taking politics and turning it into, you know, a series of machiavellian maneuvers that is either going to win you something or lose you something big, then they're able to engage with americans that, you know, in their compe

"argo", tony kushner for lincoln. david o. russell for "silver linings playbook".s. that means the writers basically calmed stuff from microsoft word and pasted it into final draft. >> for best original screenplay nominees are john gatins, flight. mark boal, "zero dark thirty". quintin taran teen from from skwrapbg going unchained. "amour". and wes anderson and roman coppola for moonrise kingdom. >> best achievement in directing, nominees are david oefplt russell, ang lee, michael haneke. and ben zeitlin for beast of the southern wild. these are five people who are the very best at sit anything a chair watching other people make a movie. >> the nominees for best performance by an actor in a leading role are daniel day-lewis in "lincoln." denzel washington in flight. hugh jackman "les miserables". bradley cooper 234 "silver linings playbook". and joaquin phoenix in "the master". just a little fun fact for you. denzel's character was actually as drunk as half of the people who are up at this hour. >> nice. guilty. for best performance by an actress in a leading role