We've gathered some people wondering about the life of actor Charlize Theron, who went through hard times financially and spiritually during her childhood and youth when she went out to be a ballerina, and then turned her career into acting, took part in many movies and made a name for herself by showing outstanding performances in them.
Theron was born on August 7, 1975 in Benoni, Transvaal, South Africa. She was born as the only child of her mother, housewife Gerda Maritz, and father, road construction company owner Charles Theron. Theron has Dutch, French and German ancestry in her ancestry.
Theron, who grew up on her family farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg, said that on June 21, 1991, her alcoholic father threatened and physically assaulted both Keen and her mother while intoxicated, and shot at both of them. Theron's mother killed her husband after shooting with her own gun, which she bought to protect herself and her daughter. Her mother was not charged, either, as it was decided that the shooting was legally self-defense.
Theron, who attended Putfontein Elementary School for a period, suffered from jaundice frequently throughout her childhood. Sent to boarding school at the age of 13, Theron continued her education at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg. Even though Theron can speak English fluently, her first language is Afrikaans.
Considering herself a dancer, Theron won a one-year modeling deal at a local pageant in Salerno at the age of 16. Therefore, she moved with her mother to Milan, Italy. As part of the deal, Theron spent a year modeling in Europe, then moved with her mother to the United States, both in New York and Miami. While in New York, Theron attended the Joffrey Ballet School and studied ballet until she closed this career path due to a knee injury.
In 1994, Theron went to Los Angeles with the intention of working in the film industry. During her first months there, Theron, struggling financially, one day went to a Hollywood Boulevard bank to cash some checks her mother had sent to help with the rent. However, her request was denied as she was out of state and not an American citizen. Arguing with the bank teller, Theron begged her next client, talent agent John Crosby, until she exchanged the money for her and gave her his business card.
Crosby enrolled Theron in an acting school. In 1995, she made her unspoken role in the horror movie "Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest". She got her first speaking role as the hitwoman Helga Svelgen in the crime black comedy movie "2 Days in the Valley"(1996). Despite mixed reviews of the film, Theron attracted attention for her beauty and fighting scenes.
Theron was introduced to talent agent J.J. Harris in a movie she auditioned for. Harris believed in Theron's potential, and surprised by this, Theron referred to Harris as her mentor. Later, more than 15 years until his own death, Harris found scripts and films in various genres for Theron and encouraged her to become a producer.
Her success was followed by larger roles in Hollywood movies and her career continued to expand into the late 1990s. She appeared in Theron's supernatural horror movie "The Devil's Advocate"(1997), which is considered her debut film, as the haunted wife of a lawyer, alongside Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino. The film received mixed reviews and was well received at the box office. She then starred in the epic adventure movie "Mighty Joe Young"(1998), based on the movie of the same name, as the friend and protector of a giant mountain gorilla. The film resulted in both mixed reviews and unsuccessful box office success.
The following year, she appeared in the drama film "The Cider House Rules" (1999) as a woman seeking an abortion during World War II. The film, which received positive reviews after its release, made people smile at the box office. Theron was featured on the cover of the January 1999 issue of Vanity Fair magazine as "White Hot Venus".
In the early 2000s, Theron's career continued with the action crime thriller "Reindeer Games"(2000), the crime movie "The Yards"(2000) and the sports movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance"(2000). All three films failed at the box office. This was followed by the drama film "Men of Honor"(2000), the romantic drama film "Sweet November"(2001) and the crime comedy "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion"(2001). Her first two films tried to be more successful both at the box office and in critical terms than their predecessors.
The following year, she got the lead role in the detective thriller "Trapped" (2002). The film, which received largely negative reviews from critics, also had a bombastic effect at the box office. Despite all these failed productions, Theron said it all helped her settle in as an actress. Later, Theron co-starred with Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton, Jason Statham, Seth Green and Donald Sutherland in the heist film "The Italian Job" (2003), directed by F. Gary Gray and an American homage/re-adaptation of the 1969 British film of the same name. The film was a box office success, grossing worldwide and the response was largely positive.
Later that year, she played serial killer Aileen Wuornos alongside Christina Ricci in the crime biopic "Monster"(2003). The film received a hugely positive response both at the box office and critically. Critics responded positively to Theron's portrayal, which has been described as "one of the greatest performances in cinema history". For her role, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004. Thus, she became the first South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress. She was listed by The Hollywood Reporter as the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood in 2006. She was chosen by the AskMen web portal as the most desirable woman of 2003.
She later appeared as Swedish actress and singer Britt Ekland in the 2004 HBO TV movie "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers". She earned Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her performance. In 2005, she played Rita, Michael Bluth's mentally retarded love interest, in the third season of the Fox television series "Arrested Development." She then got the lead role in the financially unsuccessful sci-fi thriller "Æon Flux." She won the Spike Video Game Award for Best Female Human Performance for her voice-over work in the movie's video game.
The following year, she starred in the critically acclaimed drama film "North Country" (2005) as a single mother and a sexually abused iron miner. Both the movie and Theron's performance were appreciated. Theron received critical acclaim for her performance and received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. "Ms." magazine congratulated her for this performance in an article in its Autumn 2005 issue. On September 30, 2005, Theron was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2007, Theron portrayed a police detective, along with Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon, in the critically acclaimed crime drama film "In the Valley of Elah." The film grossed at the box office to match its production budget. She later produced the drama film "Sleepwalking" (2008) with Nick Stahl and AnnaSophia Robb, and played the role of a reckless, scruffy mother. Even though the movie wasn't very successful, Theron's performance was appreciated.
Later in the year, Theron starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Kim Basinger in Guillermo Arriaga's drama film "The Burning Plain," as a woman facing a traumatic childhood. That same year, she appeared in the superhero movie "Hancock" alongside Will Smith as the ex-wife of an alcoholic superhero. The film, which received mixed reviews after its release, gained huge worldwide success. Also in 2008, Theron was named "Woman of the Year" by Hasty Pudding Theatres. Among her 2009 releases, she has voiced a character in the post-apocalyptic survival drama "The Road" and the animated superhero movie "Astro Boy", where she briefly appeared in flashbacks.
After taking a break from films for two years, Theron came back to the agenda with her lead role in the black comedy movie "Young Adult" directed by Jason Reitman in 2011. Theron, who received critical acclaim for her performance, was mentioned by critics saying "Charlize Theron gave one of the most impressive performances of the year". Additionally, she has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award and many other awards.
In 2012, Theron shared the role of Snow White's evil stepmother, Evil Queen Ravenna, with Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth in Rupert Sanders' directorial debut fantasy film "Snow White and the Hunter." The film, which achieved great success at the box office after its release, was also praised by the critics. Later, she was cast as a crew member with a hidden agenda in the sci-fi horror movie "Prometheus" directed by Ridley Scott. While the film received generally positive reviews, it also achieved success at the box office.
The following year, she was named Hollywood's 68th Most Valuable Star by Vulture/NYMag magazine. In 2014, Theron appeared as the wife of an infamous outlaw in "A Million Ways to Die in the West," a western black comedy directed by Seth MacFarlane, which earned mediocre reviews and moderate box office revenue.
In 2015, Theron starred as the sole survivor of her family's murder in the film adaptation of the Gillian Flynn novel "Dark Places" directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. That same year, she starred alongside Tom Hardy as Imperator Furiosa in the post-apocalyptic action movie "Mad Max: Fury Road"(2015). It received widely positive reviews, with praise for Theron for both the film and the dominating nature of her character. It also grossed well at the box office against its production budget. The following year, she reprized her role as Queen Ravenna in its sequel, "The Huntsman: Winter's War" fantasy adventure movie. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, resulting in moderate success at the box office.
In 2016, Theron co-starred with Sean Penn in the rare romantic drama film "The Last Face" as a doctor and activist working in West Africa. Later, she voiced in the 3D stop-motion fantasy movie "Kubo and the Two Strings". Despite its general acclaim, the film was a box office failure. That year, she was included in the "Time 100" list of the world's most influential people by Time magazine.
Theron appeared in the 2017 sequel action movie "The Fate of the Furious" as the cyberterrorist Cipher, the main antagonist of the entire series. Upon its release, the film received mixed and positive reviews and was a box office success, with worldwide revenues. It also became the nineteenth film to gross over $1 billion and the third highest-grossing film of 2017. In the same year, she played a spy on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 in the thriller "Atomic Blonde", an adaptation of a comic book. The film resulted in positive returns at both the box office and the critical.
In 2018, she played an overwhelmed mother of three in the black comedy crime film "Tully"(2018), directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. The film was critically acclaimed for Theron's outstanding performance. Later, she appeared in the crime movie "Gringo" as the head of a pharmaceutical company.
In 2019, Theron produced and co-starred in the romantic comedy movie "Long Shot," directed by Jonathan Levine and co-starring with Seth Rogen, portraying a US Secretary of State who reconnects with a journalist she was babysitting. It was released on May 3, 2019, receiving positive reviews from film critics. She then co-produced and starred in the Jay Roach-directed drama "Bombshell" as Megyn Kelly with Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie. Her performance earned her Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. Additionally, it won the Critics' Choice Movie Award, the Actors Guild Award, and the BAFTA Award. In the same year, she was named the "ninth highest-paid actress in the world" by Forbes magazine with her annual income.
In 2020, she co-starred with and produced the superhero movie "The Old Guard", directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, with KiKi Layne. The film, which received generally positive reviews from critics, was released on Netflix. The following year, she reprized the role of Cipher in the sequel action movie "F9," whose release was delayed to June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film, which received mixed reviews from critics, broke several box office records and became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2021.
It was later revealed that Theron will play Clea in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with her credits scene debut in the superhero movie "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" when the movie hits theaters in May 2022. That same year, she played Lady Lesso in the Netflix fantasy movie "The School for Good and Evil" (2022). The movie, which received generally negative reviews from critics, became the most watched movie one day after its release.
Personal life
Theron's first relationship was with actor Craig Bierko, which lasted from 1995 to 1997. Later, she was in a relationship with singer Stephan Jenkins until October 2001. Later in the year, she began a relationship with actor Stuart Townsend after they met on the set of a movie. The couple decided to separate in late 2009. Later in 2013, she started a romantic relationship with actor Sean Penn. The couple separated in June 2015.
Theron adopted a daughter in March 2012 and another in July 2015. Theron holds citizenship of South Africa and the United States. Theron is a fan of British electronic group Depeche Mode and hosted her induction in the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 2020.
In 2007, the Charlize Theron African Outreach Project (CTAOP) was launched by Theron to support African youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The project supported community-related organizations addressing the root causes of the disease. In 2008, Theron was named a United Nations Ambassador for Peace.
In December 2009, CTAOP and the company Toms Shoes began working to create a limited edition unisex shoe. The shoe is inspired by the African baobab tree, which is made from vegan materials and has a silhouette embroidered on a blue and orange canvas. The shoes produced were given ten thousand pairs to poor children, and a portion of the proceeds were donated to CTAOP.
In 2020, CTAOP partnered with Parfums Christian Dior to create "Dior Stands With Women", an initiative to encourage women to be assertive by documenting their journeys, challenges and achievements. A supporter of same-sex marriage, Theron attended marches and rallies to support it.