Charlize Theron: Just Call Me "Ass-Nuts"

Oscar winner reveals nickname given to her by North Country costar Jeremy Renner

Don't be surprised if people start referring to Charlize Theron as Ass-Nuts.

The Oscar winner revealed at last night's Hollywood Film Awards that Breakthrough Actor honoree Jeremy Renner bestowed her with the nickname during the making of their 2005 drama, North Country.

Theron and Renner along with the rest of the cast went out for some drinks and…

"I can't tell you what transpired, but lemme just say I found a friend for life in Jeremy, and he has ever since then referred to me as…Ass-Nuts," Theron said. "I wish that was a joke, but it's true!"

While last night's annual fete attracted some major Hollywood players like Theron, Steven Spielberg, Robert De Niro, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Julianne Moore and Diane Kruger, there were plenty of new faces you'll be seeing a lot of come awards season.

Gabourey Sidibe, who stars as a horrifically abused teen in indie favorite Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, said things weren't always depressing on set. She even did some dueting with costar Mariah Carey.

"We sang 'Beauty School Dropout,' " Sidibe said. "It's not in the movie. It was just for fun."

Michelle Monaghan told me she let the trucker's driving license she got for her work in Trucker expire. "I found out that if I get pulled over or get a ticket for any reason, the fine triples if you have a Class-A driver's license," she said.

Nicholas Halt, who costars alongside Julianne Moore, Colin Firth and Matthew Goode in Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, says he was surprised by how easy his audition was. "It was strange," Halt said. "I was over in England and I sent a tape over, and then about a week later they asked me to get on a plane and play the part. It was all very quick. We started shooting about a week later."

Carey Mulligan, star of An Education and the upcoming Wall Street sequel, was excited about meeting fellow honoree and Amelia star Hilary Swank. "She said we wore matching dresses the other night," Mulligan said. "I'm just like, 'I'm now wearing the same dresses as Hilary Swank!' It's so surreal."

And I'm happy to report Nine producer Ryan Kavanaugh said there were no diva antics from the musical movie's all-star lineup, including Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Marion Cotillard.

"I think everybody had equal-size trailers," he said, quickly adding with a laugh, "Size really doesn't matter."

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The night's winners were:

Producer of the Year: Ryan Kavanaugh

Animation Award: Pete Docter

Supporting Actress: Julianne Moore

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz

Breakthrough Screenwriter: Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

Hollywood Movie of the Year: Star Trek

Hollywood Spotlight Awards: Paul Schneider, Melanie Lynskey, Zachary Quinto and Shohreh Aghdashloo

Costume Designer: Colleen Atwood

Cinematographer: Roger Deakins

Breakthrough Actor: Jeremy Renner

Comedy Award: Bradley Cooper

Editor Award: Dana E. Glauberman

Actress of the Year: Hilary Swank

Production Designer: Rick Carter

Actor of the Year: Robert De Niro

Screenwriter Award: Nora Ephron

Breakthrough Director: Lee Daniels

Film Composer: Alexandre Desplat

Breakthrough Actress: Carey Mulligan

New Hollywood: Gabourey Sidibe

Visual Effects: Scott Farrar

Director of the Year: Kathryn Bigelow

Hollywood Humanitarian Award: Father Rick Frechette