Plate Full for Busy Oscar Nominees

March 13 -- At Monday's Oscar nominee luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., Best Actor nominee Geoffrey Rush shared his scheme to liven up the endless parade of awards shows and interviews that lead up to the Oscars.

"Tom Hanks and I were talking … 'How are you dealing with the press?' We all get asked the same questions over and over again," said Rush, who's nominated for his role as the Marquis de Sade in Quills. "[So] we've come up with an idea: Wouldn't it be great if all of the nominees in each category could play each other's roles? And I asked Tom, 'What would you want to do?' and we both said, "Well … Gladiator! We could put a whole new spin on that movie."

Rush continued, "Javier Bardem could play the Marquis … we should tell [Oscar show producer] Gil Cates — hey, I think we've got something here."

As for the kind of gladiator he'd make, Rush said, "There'd be a little padding underneath that would be very, um, discreet. … But [me as Maximus] would be a bit like Daffy Duck playing the part, wouldn't it?"

Bardem, Lee Feel Like Oscar OutsidersAlso having a bit of fun at journalists' expense was Before Night Falls' Bardem, Spain's first acting Oscar nominee, who joked that since arriving in Hollywood for awards season, he's been offered "two Cadillacs, one big house in Beverly Hills, and two golden watches — but not any roles." He added, "I think it is not very easy for Latin actors to get roles in American films, but I don't know, I'm a stranger in this country."

Ang Lee, despite picking up the Directors Guild of America prize Saturday night, said he thinks the Best Director Oscar isn't his for the taking. "It always goes to some big Hollywood director," he said, excluding himself from that description. In comparing the two awards, Lee said, "The DGA, that's very significant to me, but the Oscars … everybody is watching."

The Taiwanese director said that when he began filming the 10-times-nominated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, he told the crew the magic formula for the East-meets-West epic: "Think Hollywood production value, Chinese budget, and Hong Kong efficiency." A crewmember yelled back in response, "Yeah, and the salary of Africa!"