Los Angeles (CNN) -- "The King's Speech" story knocked around in David Seidler's head for half a century before he finished writing the screenplay for the film, which is now nominated for a dozen Academy Awards. Any sooner and it might have been "a fairly reasonable script," but not likely good enough to earn an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay, Seidler said. It demanded "a more mature writer." "I don't think it would have been the same," he said, as he sipped hot tea in the Beverly Hills Hotel's Polo Lounge. During lunch, Seidler opened a large envelope holding an original photograph of King George VI sitting with President Franklin Roosevelt. The photo, a gift from collector Keya Morgan, was taken in June 1939, just three months before he delivered the dramatic radio address that is the climax of his movie.
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David Seidler drew upon his childhood pain as a stutterer to write the screenplay
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He waited decades to write the story at the request of the royal widow, Seidler says
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The story wouldn't have been good enough for an Oscar nomination if he wrote it sooner, he says
Seidler spoke about the similarity between @placeholder's paralyzed legs, a public secret, and King George VI's speech impediment, which was "swept under the royal carpet."