Julie Christie plays the Cheshire cat at the Glorious 39 press conference

We couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Dynasty‘s Alexis Colby when veteran actor Julie Christie (Cheshire cat grin, ’80s earrings) spoke about Glorious 39, Stephen Poliakoff’s World War II thriller, at the press conference for the film.

“Stephen persuaded me so much,” Christie giggled about how she became involved. “I never really want to work. He has a very persuasive manner and is a wonderful writer, and you know whatever work he does it’s going be a very interesting film.”

Glorious 39 is centred around a young woman (Romola Garai) who stumbles upon a government Nazi appeasement plot.

“I was attracted to every element, really...I did know a great deal about this subject and in school in England you’re taught very little about this,” said co-star Bill Nighy. “This story hasn’t been told, and reading about the subject, I realized it’s a deep shaming period of British history. They really messed it up.”

Aside from heavyweights like Nighy and Christie, the film also stars other well-known Brits like Christopher Lee (he played Saruman in The Lord of the Rings), Jeremy Northam (who also appears in TIFF opener Creation) and David Tennant (Doctor Who).

Christie’s credits include everything from the modern drama Away from Her to the classic Dr. Zhivago and for the kids, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. When asked what it felt like to be a living legend, she took her eyes off the ceiling (everyone wondered what she kept staring at), leaned forward and said with a smile, “It means I’m very, very old.”