The King's Speech Was More Personal Than You Think...

I was lucky enough to attend a screening last night of The King's Speech, which had a Q&A afterward with the writer (who had just been nominated that very morning) and cast member, .

The movie was, of course, fantastic, but what was even more fantastic was the man who wrote it, a man who himself overcame a stutter (the difference between "stutter and "stammer" was discussed and apparently "stutter" is American and "stammer" is British.) They call it a stammer in the film. Mr. Seidler calls himself a stammerer. Not "someone who used to stammer," but a stammerer in the present tense. He says it's always there, behind everything he says — he's just learned to master the tricks of the trade.

When asked what he was doing when the nominations were announced, he said he was half-awake in his bed. Then he joked of his dream-of-the-century reality, "I'm still waiting to wake up!"

David Seidler is 73 years old. And he came to Hollywood at the age of 40. Which is heartening beyond belief. There is so much ageism in this industry that to hear of someone who began his journey into a near-impossible business at that age gives hope, hopefully to many.

This is Mr. Seidler:

This is his first nomination.