Director Hooper: Oscar would be fantastic

BERLIN — The director of Academy Award best-picture favorite "The King's Speech" says taking home an Oscar would be "fantastic."

Director Tom Hooper presented the made-in-England picture on Wednesday at this year's Berlin Film Festival, along with fellow oscar nominees Colin Firth, who plays England's King George VI, and Helena Bonham Carter, who stars as Queen Elizabeth.

"It would be fantastic," Hooper said of a win. "But, I think the tradition of the Academy Awards is a wonderful tradition to be part of and, frankly, I'm incredibly happy to be part of it through the nomination."

Firth said he relied on recordings of the king and advice from scriptwriter David Seidler, who, like King George VI, also suffered from a stammer, in learning his part.

Bonham Carter also stars in another film at the festival, "Toast," based on British food writer Nigel Slater's memoirs. She told reporters earlier Wednesday the film gave her a handy new dessert recipe — and a chance to explore a working-class role.

Bonham Carter said she'd "never been asked to play a cleaner before" and "never been asked to do (British) Midlands working class."

She has, however, starred as several queens, most recently as the giant-craniumed Red Queen in husband Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland."

"I like doing queens," Bonham Carter said.