If you don't know the name Lilly Ledbetter, how is this introduced? "Lilly Ledbetter didn't intend to be a pioneer or household name," President Obama said in 2009. "She was a hardworking hard worker who did well, and before she found out she was paid less than her male colleagues because she was doing the same job," said President Obama in 2009. "From most accounts, 40% less.

Now, a new film starring Patricia Clarkson, a sanitary fight for equal pay with her employer, Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Alabama.

Asked about her knowledge of Ledbetter before reading the script, Clarkson replied, "Well, she is one of the most outstanding human beings of all time, a real, true American hero. A serious injustice against her. But she is also dealing with disgusting, age-classism. But she is an amazing manager. She is an amazing manager."

In the 1970s, a female manager at a tire factory was almost unheard of. But Ledbetter needs the money to help her husband support her two children. In 1998, she found her male counterparts’ names and salary lists, all of which were much more than she did.

As the movie describes, Ledbetter details the pay difference in detail in the anonymous notes left to her in her locker. "She was shocked," said her daughter, Vickie Ledbetter Saxon. "She told me she didn't know how she was going to pass this transformation. She was humiliated."

Ledbetter filed a lawsuit and received $3.8 million in deductions and damages. But the appeals court overturned the verdict. She had never seen a dime.

Her case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where a 5-4 ruling favored Goodyear's ruling, and she waited too long to file a claim for discrimination (the statute of limitations is only 180 days).

"She was very upset about it," Saxon said. "I thought it was over, I really did."

no. By then, Ledbetter was close to 70 years old and became a symbol of unequal treatment in the workplace. She corrected her mission to pay differentials and maintained her activism in her 80s.

"Equal salary for equal work is the fundamental principle of the United States," Ledbet said in a 2008 speech to the Democratic National Convention.

On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed his first legislation: Eli Lilly LEDBETTER FAIR PAY Acteffectively ending the restrictive regulations on fair payment claims.

Clarkson said: "People care about her journey. It's like: I know you. I know who you are. I know what you went through. I've experienced it, too.

Clarkson plays a memorable series of characters, from heroin addicts in "Advanced Art" to moms of "Easy A". She said Hollywood was no exception.

When asked if she believed she was paid equally throughout her career, Clarkson replied, “Oh no. Oh no. No. When I first worked, I was paid the lowest.

Clarkson said to be Eli Lilly, and she spent some time in a park in New York City: “Every time I go somewhere or I just walk around the streets, I’m like, ‘It’s Eli Lilly, it’s Eli Lilly, it’s Eli Lilly.’ I mean, everyone, she’s everywhere.”

She found Eli Lilly in her mother, Jackie Clarkson, New Orleans City Councilman and Louisiana State University representative. "I brought my mom's best person to play Lilly because I have this shining example," she said. "I'm ugly 'Eli Lilly'. My mom was there.

When she got a part, mom was her first call. "You know, 'Because I play a lot of complicated women, she's like, 'Oh, Patty. Oh, Patty. It's so honorable. It's so good. You're finally going to be in a movie that everyone can watch!'"

Clarkson said playing Ledbetter was a privilege for her life.

Asked about what she learned through playing the role of Lilly, Clarkson said: “I need to always try to care more, be better, try to be a better person, be a better citizen.”

I said, "I think the experience of people watching this movie and seeing her story is thinking, 'Will I call it over and over? Would I be so brave if I was asked?'''

"I don't know if it will," Clarkson said. "If I lose the solution, I'll think, 'I'm done.'"

Jackie Clarkson and Ledbetter died last year. Lilly Ledbetter screened the film a few days before she died, and Clarkson could meet her.

When asked what she would say to Ledbetter, Clarkson replied, "You live a very little life. And people have very little lives. So are my mother. They are dancing too. Happy Mother's Day, Happy Mother's Day, Lily, Mother's!"

To watch the trailer for Eli Lilly, click the video player below:

For more information:

• "Eli Lilly" is now available in theaters

A story produced by Robbyn McFadden. Editor: Jason Schmidt.