Celebs react to Oscar news

Los Angeles - Here are reactions from some of the key Oscar nominees, following the announcement of nominations for the 85th Academy Awards on Thursday.

"It's been an absolutely thrilling morning. I was awoken by (my publicist) telling me about our multiple nominations. It's the best wake up call I've had in 14 years! I'm always surprised by recognition. I'm deeply grateful." - Steven Spielberg, director, Lincoln.

"I am deeply honoured and frankly a little overwhelmed by all of the nominations," said Lee.

"Everything about this movie was an uphill battle. And it was a very difficult movie to make, so I didn't really get to celebrate when we finished. I felt more like Pi, lost and exhausted." - Ang Lee, director, Life of Pi.

"It just means everything to me that we got the film made after five years and that it is finding audiences.

"It's like anything in sports or anything. If you've ever struggled, you are very grateful when you are getting into work that feels good... It just inspires you to keep doing good work," he told CNN. - David O'Russell, director, Silver Linings Playbook.

"It's very exciting but all a bit surreal, and it hasn't fully sunk in yet. This is a brilliant awards year that has been defined by an eclectic list of stories that have been told by incredibly talented and courageous filmmakers.

"It's an honour to be mentioned in the same sentence as the other nominees in the Best Actor category." - Hugh Jackman, actor, Les Miserables.

"Thank you to the Academy for these incredible honours. And thank you to the writers who have honoured me today with their generosity and to the academy for the Best Picture nomination. None of us would be so honored today without the genius and remarkable talent of Kathryn Bigelow, and to her we are forever grateful." - Mark Boal, producer and writer, Zero Dark Thirty.

"Of course we're very happy. We were hopeful as we'd been sort of tipped as favourites... so of course I hoped we'd get more than one nomination. That we got five is evidently a very pleasant surprise.

"Nowadays, so many nominations go to big blockbusters, with very famous names so it's nice that a European film d'auteur can compete with that," he told Austria's ORF public broadcaster. - Michael Haneke, director, Amour.

"I get up crazy early anyway, and I told myself, 'Ok, I'll take my dog to the beach, and just see what happens. Whatever goes down.' So I watched with my mom and my dog. These things are once in a lifetime," he said. - Bradley Cooper, actor, Silver Linings Playbook.

"I am very pleased that the Academy has chosen to honour the many individuals who were a part of Silver Linings Playbook." - Robert De Niro, best actor nominee, Silver Linings Playbook.

"What a wonderful year for movies when nine films with this kind of diversity get acknowledged for the industry's highest honour.

"I am so proud that Les Miserables joins them and that the Academy noted the magnificent work from Hugh, Annie, our legendary song writers and the superlative crafts experts whose work made our film what it was." - Tom Hooper, director, Les Miserables.