  Charlize Theron (Photo: Alex Urosevic, SUN)
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Charlize Theron kept them waiting.
Dozens of photographers were on hand to capture one of the most coveted celebrity pics from this year’s Festival. And after pulling out of last year’s "Head in the Clouds" screening, the glamorous actress didn’t disappoint.
When Charlize, in town promoting her Oscar-touted, "North Country," breezed into this morning’s press conference, garbed in a stunning white, sleeveless, dress, the room crackled with the popping of camera flashes, and buzzing of hard-working digital zooms. It’s the first time in the 10-day Festival that photographers have been piled three-persons deep, and the second where it’s been standing-room-only for late-arriving journalists.
But once everyone settled down, the celebrity hullabaloo seemed grossly out of place considering the film’s serious subject matter.
"North Country," scripted by Michael Seitzman, dramatizes the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States -- Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who suffered abuse while working as a miner filed and won a landmark 1984 lawsuit.
Theron stars as Josey Aimes, a headstrong woman who leaves an abusive husband to live with her parents (played by Sissy Spacek and Richard Jenkins).
Prodded by her friend Glory (played by Frances McDormand), Josey looks for work at a local steel mine. But the mine has been male-based for generations and the induction of female co-workers causes resentment, which leads to intimidation and abuse.
Josey quits, but, in the face of needing to provide for her children, she decides to fight for what’s fair. She hires a lawyer, Bill White (played by Woody Harrelson), and, inspiring others, takes the company to trial in a massive class-action suit. What follows, is a rousing story that charts the course of the human spirit.
But the grittiness of the part, and its seeming incongruence with Theron’s upcoming role in the "Matrix"-style "Aeon Flux," was lost on the actress.
"I think of Josey as this girl who got quite a lot of attention in high school, but by the time we pick her up she’s a tortoise," Theron said.
"There’s a charming misconception that beautiful girls move to Hollywood, but that’s not true," the film’s director, Niki Caro ("Whale Rider"), echoed. "Charlize has the ability to look very beautiful, and very real, at the same time."
"Besides," Theron added, "I’m not a big pampering girl anyway."
Because the real case went on for many years, Seitzman and Caro made the creative decision to collapse the time frame of the picture for "dramatic effect." Using composites was another concession they made, but one that was easier to accept.
"All the horrible things that happen," Seitzman said, "happened to someone. Wanting to take care of the people you love is incredibly human and I think that’s what we are all talking about."
"Capturing the spirit was important, but getting the audience to care on a very primal level ran throughout. The thing that moved me most was that feeling of safety and independence. That feeling of wanting to be safe is the same as getting your first paycheck."
"Whether it’s a real person or not, is irrelevant," Theron said looking up from her glass of water. "The human condition is the same."
"There are so many characters in this film," Woody Harrelson said breaking his silence, "and Niki understood them all so well.
"Whatever we can draw on to get the emotion, we do, but Niki had a subtle way of finding the truth in me and the character," Theron added.
Right on cue, Seitzman started nodding.
"All my favourite moments happened as a result of the conversations Niki and I had. I feel a writer gets directed too and a great director brings out the best."
Careful not to indict the town, the group said that the story still resonates today.
"The iron range has it’s problems, like everywhere else, but the people are genuinely good," Caro said.
"This happens everywhere," Theron said animatedly. "It’s not like something that happened in the sixties, it’s a lot more recent than that."
"All they wanted," Seitzman said with a note of finality, "was the safety of being able to go out for a day’s work."
"If the film’s about anything," Caro concluded, looking at her cast and writer, "it’s about the right to work with some kind of dignity."
"North Country" opens in theatres October 21.
