Kate Winslet is The Reader

Kate Winslet confers with director Stephen Daldry on the set of their new period drama The Reader in Sasony, Germany on Tuesday.

The Reader is based on the best-selling post-WWII novel by German author Bernhard Schlink, in which a young man obsessed with an older woman is forced to face the awful truth at a war crimes trial. Kate, 32, and Ralph Fiennes, 45, star in the lead roles.

This is the film that Winslet originally turned down the offer due to a scheduling conflict with her other film Revolutionary Road. Nicole Kidman then accepted the role but later backed out because of her pregnancy. Winslet‘s schedule cleared up again and then agreed to to replace Kidman. As it turns out, Daldry got his first choice!

The Reader tentatively will open Dec. 12, 2008.