She was a young girl when she saw the situation when her mother killed her abusive father in self-defense.
In spite of all she went through, she went on to become a Hollywood star, winning an Academy Award — the greatest honor in that field.
A disaster that no one could have predicted
You can find plenty of stars in Hollywood who had nothing but determination and ended up surprising everyone. Most A-listers weren’t born into fame or rich families, they climbed into the top through determined effort.
Actress Charlize Theron never gave in to becoming just a pretty actress. For women in Hollywood her age, success was limited to being beautiful, silent and easily replaced. However, he refused to participate in that strategy. She had dealt with much more than most of us ever experience.
American actress and producer Charlize Theron is a South African and one of the best known for her high earnings in Hollywood. With an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a place on Time’s rundown of the most influential people in the world, she has created a career few people can top.
Before getting famous and wealthy, she went through she experienced a devastating tragedy.
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The year August 7, 1975, saw Charlize Theron being born into an important Afrikaner family in Benoni, South Africa. Her ancestry can be found among Dutch, French and German settlers, with her family’s French ancestors coming to South Africa as early Huguenots.
Both her father, Charles Theron and mother, Gerda Maritz, had careers in road construction, though she has a bigger family background — she is also connected to Danie Theron, a recognized soldier from the Second Boer War.
English is her native language now, but Theron first learned Afrikaans. Back in South Africa she encountered both a cushioned childhood and suffering almost unimaginable, yet five years later she made her mark in Hollywood.
Explaining the reason she was bullied in school
As a young girl, Charlize Theron stood out as someone who just didn’t fit in with boys.
“My eyes were so weak I had to wear thick glasses and that made the other boys call me names,” she told PEOPLE in New York this week. I never had a boyfriend, but I really liked a lot of people.
After being ignored by a boy who interested her, the girl tried hard to fit in with the popular group and ended up doing things some might call “crazy.”
I didn’t belong to the most popular group. I had a crush on the most popular girl at school. You would end up in jail these days if you tried any of that, Theron jokes. I found myself sobbing once, because I could not be by her side.
Because of her glasses, hair and clothes, her classmates would tease her and mock her.
Like most people, my exposure to mean girl behavior came between the ages of 7 and 12. She says that up until primary school, she wasn’t up to her usual standard. I was done with most of that by the time high school started.
She grew up with a violent alcoholic as her father.
Her parents ran a farm in Benoni, just outside of Johannesburg and she grew up there, with hopes for an uneventful childhood.
Her dad, who was a violent alcoholic, was drunk when he came home on June 21, 1991. The situation this time turned out far more serious. Watching over Charles, an aunt called to tell the family he was unsettled.
At 15, Theron remembered the strangeness of the creeping emotion she felt at the time.
Nature provides you with your instincts. I could feel that something wasn’t right and something bad would happen, she added.
He arrived at home, furious, saying mean things to both Charlize and her mother, before the anger turned into physical violence. At that point, he got a gun.
When I told my mom, she heard him and we went over to my bedroom, resting our hands on the door because he was pushing to get in.
We both stood against the door, hoping to keep him out. He moved a bit back and shot the door three times.
Amazingly, none of the bullets made contact with us, Charlize noted.
Gerda had to do something when he started shooting at Charlize. She picked up her gun and shot her husband after pulling the trigger. It was something I needed to do to live.
The courts said it was Gerda defending herself, so Charlize was not charged, but her father’s death remained a great source of trauma for her.
Thin legs and a large stomach
Her father was big with bandy legs and an enormous stomach, she once joked, yet he knew how to stay serious and also believed in enjoying life.
But she admitted that he faced the problem of alcoholism.
“My dad was very tall, quite skinny on his legs and had a big belly,” she said. He was a deeply serious person but loved to find humor and enjoy himself. He also suffered from a condition. He battled alcoholism.”
While she said he never assaulted her, she revealed her abuser did use verbal abuse.
Naturally, the event in 1991 greatly upset her. That moment continued to affect the Oscar-winner and she talked about it later.
Many people share my experience with family violence, the kind that takes place within the home.
I don’t feel ashamed to go public with my experience, as I think it helps others understand we are all in this together. For me, it’s really been about how being around addicts changes a person while they are growing up.
A broken person, the trauma inspired her to rise higher and higher.
I got through that and I’m proud of what I accomplished. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices for that,” Theron told The New York Times. I am not afraid of any of that. I am not afraid when it gets dark. To be honest, I find it fascinating, since it helps me understand human nature and people a lot better.
What led Hollywood to find her
Theron says the worst difficulties happened once the filming ended. It pretty much summed up what I went through as a child. She admitted that what followed was even more profound, saying, “My trauma included every aspect of those days,”
All she had at 19 when she moved to Los Angeles were her bags and her strong will. She did not have any friends or sources of help, just huge determination and the ability to perform. A bad bank experience once ended with a talent agent taking notice of her upset. That meeting introduced Charlize to Hollywood, yet she realized she still needed to put in hard work to get any chance.
That film changed everything for her, as she appeared with legends Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves in The Devil’s Advocate (1997). People in Hollywood began to pay more attention. The real surprise for everyone came in 2003. Charlize needed to change completely for Monster, letting herself get heavier and replacing her glamorous image to play murderer Aileen Wuornos. The strength she brought to the role let her win an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Charlize did well, but didn’t want to settle for just being successful.
Appeared in roles as several different killers
She went further by acting in exciting action, serious drama and humorous comedy movies. She grew to be a major figure in Hollywood, acting on screen and producing, as she also campaigned for stronger roles for other women.
Then, in 2015, at 40 — an age when most actresses in Hollywood are put on hold —Charlize found a new direction. As Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, she impressed the world so much that she was remembered, not only as an actress, but also as a fighter in Hollywood.
It seems unusual, considering Theron’s background, that she would play Aileen Wuornos in Monster, since she has acted as several killers during her career.
In 2002, Aileen Wuornos, a former prostitute, was executed in Florida for killing six men in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Monster is about Aileen’s story and does not cover her seventh killing.
In his view, Roger Ebert described Charlize Theron’s acting in this role as one of the greatest in all of cinema.
She added to The New York Times that society tends to push people like Aileen Wuornos away, without really trying to understand them. We rarely ask, “What made this situation happen?” I’m interested in understanding motives. Because, in many ways, asking that question brought me here today.