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When an actress is nominated for an Oscar, people seem to unfortunately forget the director who helped get her there. But for Danish director Lone Scherfig, Hollywood has kept a close eye on her after directing Carey Mulligan to a nomination with 2009’s An Education (also a Best Picture nominee). Two years later, she is at it again, directing another Britain-based complex romance, boosted by a terrific leading actress performance. This time, Scherfig is backed with a studio budget and a much wider release on August 19th, with Focus Feature’s much-anticipated One Day.

Based off of the immensely popular David Nicholls novel, One Day stars Catwoman-to-be Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as two destined lovers who have drifted apart by life’s obstacles. For over 20 years we chart their relationship, witnessing their cosmically destined interactions every July 15th.

In a roundtable interview, Lone Scherfig talks about casting Anne Hathaway, reaching a wide audience, keeping a Britain-based film un-Americanized, and fitting 20 years of an entwined relationship in under a two hour running time.

One Day is largely a British production, so what sold you on Anne Hathaway for this part?

Lone Scherfig: She’s Anne Hathaway (laughs). She flew to London to talk to me about the character and I could see a very experienced, warm, devoted, versatile actress. I always admire good craftsmanship and she really has that. I can see it in her body of work – she has a wide range … so the part would come easy to her. The dialect thing was secondary, because I thought that she could get a dialect coach. The most important thing was to get the right actress.

It’s a matter of interpretation, because Emma Morely in the book is not nearly as beautiful or sensual as Anne. But I felt that finding someone that had a little more drama and gravitas would help when the film becomes as tragic as it does – it would be easier to accept the beginning than having someone who is more Katherine Hepburn, fast-talking – a more obvious choice.

David Nicholls mentioned that when writing the script that he didn’t want it to be Americanized.

LS: Well Nina Jacobson, one of the American producers on the film, was very keen on not moving it [to America]. That would have been another solution, to take the characters and story to New York or Boston, but she thought the specificity [was perfect].

Did you think about that when casting Anne Hathaway, that she would steer it into a more Americanized direction?

LS: I thought it was a positive thing to have an actress who would already help the film access an American audience. But the thing that will access the biggest possible audience and have me sleep the best having directed, was making the best film. So, the commercial decisions are secondary, but it definitely changes things having someone of her caliber attached to the film. Even this conversation and the whole set-up of the production – you are working in a different way. …

It’s also the seventh film I’ve done. I’ve done films where you do something people really like for a very small audience, because I am a Danish director where at maximum, if you are very lucky, you find 80% of the population, which is still only four million people. So it’s very satisfactory to shoot in a language where you can access a bigger audience and it’s great to have Anne as an American ambassador on the film.

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