As everyone wanders the multiplex (or sifts through their Academy screeners) this holiday season, those in search of British films not about royalty shouldn’t overlook Made in Dagenham. The story of east-London female factory workers who fought for equal pay, Dagenham is headed up by one of the most promising actresses of the day—Sally Hawkins, as Rita O’Grady, a.k.a. the U.K. Norma Rae. Since breaking out in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky in 2008 (and winning one of those rare Golden Globes that seems to mean something), Sally has gained a reputation as a British actress with a most promising future. Little Gold Men sat down with her recently in West Hollywood. Highlights from their chat:John Lopez: I talked to Bob Hoskins about this movie, and he couldn’t stop singing your praises.

Sally Hawkins: That’s really nice to hear that he was complimentary, because you never know when you’re filming! He’s just gorgeous. He is the legend: Bob Hoskins. I was a huge of fan him before I met him, and now even more so. I grew up watching him—he’s such a staple of British film.

Of all film. I mean, you acted opposite the guy who acted opposite Roger Rabbit.

Yes, I love that film so much! He’s brilliant in it.

It’s funny, I think of him as such a manly presence, but in Made in Dagenham] he’s a bit of a lamb. And you get to be the tough one.

That’s something to put on a T-shirt, isn’t it? I can out-masculine Bob Hoskins.

Tell me about how you approach playing a real person.

There’s so much on the Internet—source material from YouTube. There’s a lot you can tap into cerebrally. Then you have to trust your instinct, do as much research as you can, and just go with the script. These small low-budget films, you have so little time. You kind of have to compress all that preparation in a matter of weeks, sometimes days. I also got some sewing lessons. I still have my sewing machine—not one of the industrial ones from the film, not the kind that take off your fingers.

They didn’t let you keep any of the big ones from the film?.

I don’t think I would have got it through the front door.

You didn’t know how to sew before this?

I just wanted to get to know. It’s quite important to me that I could make it look real and I wasn’t worrying about extra stuff. You just want to go with the words and forget about what you’re doing. Then I met three of the women, and that was quite important to me. I went to Dagenham and met them and they’re all friends. They were great.

One of the perks of playing these historical figures—sometimes you get to meet them.

Absolutely! It’s such an honor because they are icons, and icons we don’t know about. Ones that we should, and hopefully, we will now.

When you met, were you secretly studying their mannerisms for the role?

A bit initially, but it was just a normal conversation. I realized that they were very normal women, women I recognized in my own life like my mom—funny and down-to-earth. Also, they told it how it is; they didn’t really suffer fools. They weren’t particularly impressed by the politicians of the day.

I love that scene where they’re across from Barbara Castle, Labour’s Secretary of State, and are so unimpressed.

Well, that’s how they spoke and how they were, and why a lot of people related to them. They were talking from their hearts and with truth. It wasn’t in a political and fluffy language. I think that’s why they had such a huge impact.

I asked Bob Hoskins if he thought movies can change anything and he said, “It’s worth a try.” What do you think?

I know from my own experience watching films, whether they’re political or not, they can change the way you see. When you read a book, it changes you, and when you read that poem, something can happen. Not that I’m saying this is a great work of art. But that’s why we do it, I suppose. It sort of re-awakens their cause and their argument. Sadly, they [women’s rights] are issues that we’re still dealing with today.

Yeah, issues that never seem to get solved.

As long as we keep talking and thinking about these things, that can only progress things.

Well, Who Framed Roger Rabbit changed my life.

Absolutely. Roger Rabbit is definitely key for me.

You’re a bit of a film nerd, I take it?

Yes, I’m kind of obsessed with film. I have my brother to thank for my film education; he’s obsessed. He sort of introduced me to Mike Leigh very early on, seeing Secrets and Lies—I’d never seen anything like it. I remember seeing that probably before I should be watching those kinds of films. Seeing that and realizing here’s a master filmmaker—

A master filmmaker you got to work with in Happy-Go-Lucky—what was your work with Mike Leigh like? Aren’t his scripts “written” through intense improvisation rehearsal with you as an actor?

With Mike, all actors have had that time of prepping that character with him, and you know their worlds and their responses. For Poppy I’d had six months’ rehearsal and learning her world and background and everything. You don’t have that luxury on lots of films. Then you go through a process of improvisation. We’d improvised up until that scene months before. Then you rehearse it the day before you film and you work out what’s happening. What’s key to Mike’s magic is that he’s able to rehearse actors up to a point that when it explodes, if you have to go again and again, it explodes at exactly the right time, and with exactly the right energy.

When you nail a performance, can you feel it?

I don’t. I never know. It’s just not my job to know. I can keep going forever because I think there’s always something new to discover. I’d probably be an awful director. I’d probably just keep going like Stanley Kubrick.

As for Mike, what do you think helps him get all those rich performances?

He knows exactly what’s happening in every single beat. You just know that you’re in completely good hands: he can see truth like no one else; he’s scary like that. Such a gift, he’s phenomenal in that way, and you trust him implicitly. He doesn’t watch the monitor; he watches the actors—which I much prefer as an actor. How can you see on these small monitors?

How was working with Nigel Cole different than working with Mike?

It’s always different when you work with any kind of director—in a lovely way, he trusted me and let me get on with it. That’s just what you want, really, that mutual trust, so you can both breathe and relax. There’s nothing worse than if you don’t have that relationship and you’re second-guessing each other. I probably did drive him mad saying, “Can we go again?” because I will go forever. I don’t watch the monitor, I can’t watch.

I can imagine it’s stomach-churning.

Yeah, and you start to worry about what you’re doing with your mouth.

Would you ever want to do one of those less serious comic-book movie roles?

I love those things! I never really get offered those roles. [Though] I’d love my Roger Rabbit role.