The British Invasion

"Anyone but American" seems to be the ethos of the Academy this year. A majority of this year's contending films feature a Brit as their director, writer, or lead actor. The Best Picture nominees include Frost/Nixon, a story about an American President and a British journalist written by the London-born Peter Morgan; The Reader, written, directed, and performed by Brits; and the favorite, Slumdog Millionaire, also written and directed by the British. Casting director Nancy Klopper attributes this trend to the British’s "work is work attitude.”