Post by EarlyBird on Sept 15, 2010 1:24:31 GMT 9.5
"I'm going up north after TIFF. I can't wait to see the leaves here in Ontario now. I'm sure they'll be beautiful," says the British actress as we chat in Toronto's Intercontinental Hotel.
Well, Miranda, you're in for quite the sight once your TIFF pit stop comes to an end.
But for now, all I want to talk about is her portrayal of Barbara Castle, the Labour minister in charge of employment who rebelled against not only Ford but her own Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
This Castle does after 187 women working in England's Ford auto plant in the 1960s took on the car giant and demanded equal pay for equal work.
This true-life story directed by Nigel Cole ("Calendar Girls") is one that is little known these days.
But as Cole told moviegoers before the film's screening, "This isn't a lamentation. This is a celebration. That's the spirit we shot this movie with, every one of us."
"Something very uplifting and powerful does happen here on the screen and it's not just because of Barbara," says Richardson.
The steely politico that Richardson concocts is one that would make Margaret Thatcher seem like a wet noodle.
Castle's got brains and brawn and has no trouble lashing out at inept male politicos and public servants with an acid tongue.
As Castle's Prime Minister says, "You're the only man in my party Barbara."
And just like the film's other key heroine, factory worker Rita O'Grady (Sally Hawkins), Castle doesn't buy into any "boys club" crap.
"Barbara and Rita aren't that different," says Richardson.
"One woman might have more money and more position than the other. But they're on the same page. They're willing to fight for what they know in their heart is right. How many people, in public office or otherwise, can say the same thing?"
Our interview ends, but before it does Richardson makes a confession.
"I was nervous when I got to the set. No really, I was," she says.
"All the other actresses had been shooting together for weeks. I was on set for 10 days. By the time I got there everyone had bonded. That left me feeling a little intimidated," says Richardson.
You'd never know it -- not the way Richardson chews out the sheepish civil servants in this flick.
That bite is nothing new to Richardson's fans.
To a younger generation of moviegoers Richardson will always be Harry Potter's wily reporter Rita Skeeter -- a journalist who can make or break any self-respecting wizard with the stroke of her airborne quill.
To everyone else, Richardson is the woman who burnt up the screen in 1985's "Dance with a Stranger."
She's the scene-stealing gem in films like "The Crying Game," "Damage, "Enchanted April" and Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow."
"I'm definitely one for mixing it up," Richardson laughs. "The last person I ever want to bore is myself."
Enjoy
