Award Category Fraud: Attempted. Kate Winsletcampaigned for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Hanna, preferring to submit as a lead for her role in Revolutionary Road. However, Academy voters aren't required to adhere to a performer's desired placement and ended up nominating her as a lead for this film, for which she won.
Creator Backlash: Producer Scott Rudin had his name removed from the film. The official line was he and Harvey Weinstein clashing over the release date, or else didn't want The Reader to also be campaigned for the Oscars with Doubt and Revolutionary Road.
Fake Nationality: Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet, both English, play the Germans Michael and Hanna. David Kross, who plays the teenage Michael however, was German and learned English specifically for the film. Most of the supporting cast were also German.
Hostility on the Set: Steven Daldry admitted to having a fight with the book's author Bernhard Schlink over an adaptation change - Hanna in the book learns about the Holocaust by reading from a list of works by Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi and Hannah Arendt. The director removed that, feeling it would give the impression that the movie was trying to redeem Hanna.
Underage Casting: David Kross is initially a couple of years older than Michael is supposed to be (and for legal reasons, they had to wait for him to turn eighteen to film the nude scenes). But then he plays Michael eight years later.
Kate Winslet was the first choice for Hanna, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with Revolutionary Road. Nicole Kidman was then cast, and they put the project on hiatus to allow her to star in Australia. After she had finished that, Nicole dropped out because she was now pregnant. In this time, Kate Winslet had become available again.
A scene showing Hanna actually committing the mass murder she was imprisoned for was left out to not give the audience an "unbalanced" view of her.
for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Hanna, preferring to submit as a lead for her role in Revolutionary Road. However, Academy voters aren't required to adhere to a performer's desired placement and ended up nominating her as a lead for this film, for which she won.