South African stunner Charlize Theron is one of the most talented and versatile actresses alive, portraying characters ranging from serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster” to a butt-kicking sexpot in “Aeon Flux”. Though her inauspicious debut in the 1995 straight-to-video sequel “Children of the Corn III” wasn’t anything to write home about, within two years she was turning heads as one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood. Today, Theron is an Oscar-winning superstar, known for her intense performances, savvy producing skills, and civil rights work.
The jaw-droppingly beautiful actress was born near Johannesburg, South Africa in Benoni on August 7, 1975 where she was raised on her parents’ farm. While home from boarding school at the age of 15, Theron witnessed her mother fatally shoot her physically abusive father in self-defense. Subsequently raised by her mother, with whom she remains extremely close, Theron moved to Milan, Italy when she was 16 after nabbing a modeling contract in a local competition. Her contract expired while living in New York City, but Theron stayed in the U.S. to study at the Joffrey Ballet School, though a knee injury ultimately forced her to quit dancing. The ambitious teen then moved to L.A. to pursue an acting career, and scored small parts in “2 Days in the Valley” and the Tom Hanks-directed “That Thing You Do!”.
Her high-impact performance as Keanu Reeves’s terrorized wife in 1997’s “The Devil’s Advocate” put her on the map, and she quickly became a sought-after leading lady. Theron then starred in the Hollywood hits “Mighty Joe Young”, “The Astronaut’s Wife”, “The Cider House Rules”, and “Reindeer Games”, alongside, respectively, Bill Paxton, Johnny Depp, Tobey Maguire, and Ben Affleck – all before she turned 25. The enormously talented actress exhibited a depth and on-screen fortitude far beyond her years, and she greeted the 2000s with a stunning performance in the grossly underrated drama “The Yards”, in addition to starring in “Men of Honor”, Robert Redford’s “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, and “Sweet November”.
2003’s “Monster” provided Theron with a major career milestone – an Oscar for Best Actress. She did a lot more than ‘de-glam’ in the film, as her rich characterization of the troubled Aileen Wuornos showed that Theron had a remarkable mastery over her mannerisms, which in even slightly less capable hands could have easily resulted in a disastrously overcooked performance. Film critic Roger Ebert went so far as to call it “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema”. Since “Monster” she has earned Golden Globe and Emmy nods for the TV film “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers”, and has starred in “Head in the Clouds” (with long-term boyfriend Stuart Townsend), the terrific Fox sitcom “Arrested Development”, and “North Country”, for which she received a much-deserved second Oscar nomination. The 30-year-old star also produced “Monster” and is set to produce two of her upcoming films, the Kimberly Peirce-directed “The Ice at the Bottom of the World” and the heist flick “Jinx”. Theron will be seen next in “The Battle in Seattle”, a dramatization of the infamous 1999 protests that shut down the city.