After recently speaking to Kate Winslet about “The Reader,” (click here) we remembered this small item about the British star who is favorite for a best actress Oscar at the weekend for her portrayal of a former concentration guard in “The Reader”.

In an episode of the spoof TV series ”Extras” in 2005, the 33-year-old played an actress playing a nun in a Holocaust drama. Asked why she had accepted the role, her character – and it should be said Winslet was playing it firmly tongue-in-cheek in keeping with the spirit of the show — replies: “I’m doing it because I’ve noticed that if you do a film about the Holocaust, (you’re) guaranteed an Oscar. I’ve been nominated four times. Never won. The whole world is going, ‘why hasn’t Winslet won one?’”

“The Reader,” which recalls the Holocaust, now brings Winslet up to six nominations. As yet, there is no Oscar statuette. Was the scene on Gervais’ “Extras” just a coincidence? Or, was it part of a cunning Oscar campaign plot hatched all those years ago?

(Okay, it was a comedy, but you never know).

The real question is, will ”The Reader” land her the big prize in the face of tough competition from Meryl Streep in “Doubt”?