Actress Sigourney Weaver said she has been "very heartened" by fans of her film Prayers for Bobby, for which she earned an Emmy nomination.

"A lot of parents come up to me on the street and say how much they appreciate the film," Weaver, 59, told E! Online.

In the TV movie Weaver played Mary Griffith, the Bible-toting mother of a gay son named Bobby who after years of persecution committed suicide. After his death Griffith became an advocate for gay rights. The film is based on the Griffiths' true story.

However, it is still hard to see whether the film, which premiered in January 2009 on Lifetime, changed the way that gays are viewed in a society where Proposition 8, which repealed same-sex marriage rights in California, reflects the will of the majority.

"I was very disheartened because I love the movie and I do think it will do some good," Weaver said, "but when I read that the poll numbers in California hadn't changed at all since the referendum, I was just shocked."