Theron urging pals to vote for Obama

Charlize Theron has been privately campaigning for US presidential candidate Barack Obama among her own circle of friends.

The South African-born actress, who recently became an American citizen, has been a supporter of the Democratic candidate for months.

She will be using her first US vote in the November elections and admits she has been urging her Republican-voting pals to reconsider their choice.

She says, "I think everybody knows I'm backing Barack Obama. There's certain things about him that I find truly inspiring.

"After his speech on race, I emailed a few people I knew who are probably going to vote Republican and suggested that they really listen to that speech."