In 2009, Kross was selected for the 2009 Shooting star award at the Berlin Film Festival for his performance in the Stephen Daldry film The Reader co-starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and Lena Olin.

• "I read the book first and I thought, 'Oh, my God, I have to do these sex scenes.' And then I, to be honest, I didn't quite understand the book. I didn't understand what it was about, that what it was actually about was Germany." — David KrossLos Angeles Times: David Kross comes of age on the Reader set (December 17, 2008) on The Reader

• "As an actor, it changed me a lot because Stephen Daldry is a very actor-based director, and I learned so much doing his film. I really learned a lot because that was my third film and I still very inexperienced and still have to learn so much. It was a great experience." Cinema Source.com: David Kross on The Reader on The Reader

• "Of course I was very, very nervous when I realized that I had to do sex scenes. But then I talked to Stephen, and he was telling me I should focus on the difficult acting scenes, because they were more difficult to act. The sex scenes were very technical and not difficult to act, because they're thinking you do with your body."Cinema Blend: The Reader star David Kross talks sex with Kate Winslet (December 10, 2008)