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"Alexander Payne has revealed that he originally envisioned Bruce Dern starring in Nebraska a decade ago. The filmmaker told Parade that he thought of Dern when he first read the script about an elderly sweepstakes winner.  Oscars: My Best Picture is... Digital Spy staff&amp;#039;s Academy Awards picks  &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s the first guy who jumped to mind when I first read the script 10 years ago,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I thought, &amp;#039;Oh, this could be a good part for Bruce Dern&amp;#039;.&amp;quot;  Payne continued: &amp;quot;Then years went by because I didn&amp;#039;t want to do another road picture, and then the time came to make it, and I still met probably 50 guys his age just for due diligence, but I circled back around to Mr Dern.&amp;quot; Payne also said that he is pleased that Nebraska has boosted the careers of both Dern and June Squibb, who have both earned Oscar nominations.   &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s really lovely to see their reactions to the attention they are getting,&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;Younger actors will say, &amp;#039;Oh, pshaw, pshaw. It&amp;#039;s just nice to be nominated. Oh, who, me?&amp;#039; when they&amp;#039;re just desperate for it underneath.&amp;quot;  The director added: &amp;quot;Meanwhile, Bruce and June are lapping it up and openly loving it by saying, &amp;#039;We deserve this attention. We wanted it. This is so sweet.&amp;#039; They&amp;#039;re so openly happy and grateful. Their reaction is very honest.&amp;quot; Nebraska is now playing in the US and the UK. Watch Digital Spy predict this year&amp;#039;s Academy Awards winners below:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a554865/nebraska-director-alexander-payne-bruce-dern-was-my-first-choice/>