Charlize Theron belongs at the top of Hollywood. Effortlessly, she alternates commercial blockbusters with independent small dramas. She left Johannesburg for the US in her teens to work as a model and dance with the Joffrey Ballet. In 2004, she won her first Oscar with her first self-produced film, Sample. Theron (44) does it her own way. No-nonsense and with a singularity of purpose. "I owe that to my mother. She is the reason at all that I am such a ballbuster am."Text: Jorrit Niels
Charlize Theron is no stranger to some solid stunts. Whether in a post-apocalyptic world in Mad Max: Fury Road Or Berlin at the height of the Cold War in Atomic Blonde. Now she plays Andromache of Scythia in Netflix's The Old Guard. Born thousands of years ago and died hundreds of times. The name stands for 'who fights like a man'.
This is a completely different Charlize Theron than the one as Megyn Kelly in Bombshell from last year. Or did they not? Both are powerful women and her carrying a heavy axe in her latest was only right according to the 44-year-old actress. "I had the most amazing shoulders after shooting," a smiling Theron tells us.
We speak to the South African native from a distance. Not as usual in a lavish hotel room in a five-star hotel in London, New York or Los Angeles, but from home.
Us in The Hague on a sunny Friday evening in May, she is just running through the second espresso of the morning at her home in LA. We call before the Netflix movie The Old Guard, with Belgium's Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead, Red Sparrow), the Dutch Marwan Kenzari (Wolf, Aladdin) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) in supporting roles. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball).
Besides a leading role, Theron is also producing the film adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name about a group of immortal mercenaries who save the innocent and vulnerable. But they are tired, doubtful and hopeless about how the world has become.
"Andy, as my characters name is abbreviated, feels those millennials are on her ways. She feels like her actions are useless and she has lost faith in humanity. I think we all recognise that these days. Everyone goes through periods when it feels like nothing helps, no matter how much you apply yourself."
PHYSICAL EXERTION
It's your first film adaptation of a graphic novel. What appealed to you about it?
"I wanted to go for a realistic tone and stand out from the rest. More raw, but always with the feeling that these could be ordinary people, despite their special backgrounds. In doing so, I saw the potential to ask relevant questions about the world we live in today and about humanity. Is what we are doing enough? Are we making things better or ruining it?"
Does the physicality appeal to you in filmmaking?
"It keeps you feeling young. At least, most of the time, haha. But I have always been very physical and always want to push myself to be better than I am. Several of my roles demanded physical effort and I love that challenge in acting. Hopefully my body will keep that up for a few more years. But what I find attractive about filmmaking is mainly the team aspect."
The film is partly about immortality, something that remains popular in film. What is that appeal?
"It is a subject we as humans have always found fascinating. I am intrigued by the concept and inevitability of death. This has also made me think more about the impermanence of my own existence, something that really only came about since I became a mother. I know there's no other way, but it's heartbreaking to know that I won't live to see all of my two children."
PAPARAZZI
The film is partly about immortality, something that remains popular in film. What is that appeal?
"It is a subject we as humans have always found fascinating. I am intrigued by the concept and inevitability of death. This has also made me think more about the impermanence of my own existence, something that really only came about since I became a mother. I know there's no other way, but it's heartbreaking to know that I won't live to see all of my two children."
You are not exactly shy yourself, but very mindful of your children's privacy.
"I think that's only natural. They didn't ask for that celebrity, so why should I do that to them? I'm not going to make myself pretty and then drop them off at the school bus. So that the paparazzi have a nice photo and I can show what a good mother I am. I saw a picture the other day of a celebrity -no, I won't tell you who it was- at a school bus stop and it looked like she had stepped right out of a make-up commercial. No way do I look like that when I put my kids on the bus at seven in the morning. Surely that is a totally unrealistic way to live!? At my 44ste I am also no longer at the point where I want to pursue that.
You also co-produced this film. Something you have been doing with your production company Denver and Delilah since Monster from 2003. Have you always had that business instinct?
"I owe that to my mother. She is the reason at all that I am such a ballbuster am, because she was too. Even at a young age, she was explaining things to me at work and that instinct then took root. How many times I saw her wearing a suit and high heels to a meeting full of men. She ran it right there in the office. And this gave me the belief that you can be a strong individual, with your own mission. Regardless of your gender. The most important thing I learnt from my mother is that the truth can hurt, but is crucial. In South Africa, you develop elephant skin at a very early age. We don't have patience for sensitivity there, you have to survive. I am immensely grateful to her for that."
CONNECTIONS
What has helped you most in your career behind the scenes?
"Naivety and ignorance. Both make you take risks you wouldn't otherwise dare to take. If I had really known what Hollywood was like and how difficult it could be, I might never have chosen acting. Let alone producing. Follow your gut feeling."
What are you watching out for in this little world?
"The little nagging or a setback. Before, a setback or a negative comment was much more likely to feel like the end of the world to me. I am older now and see the sense and nonsense of things much faster. Let gossip go and focus on what you want to achieve. And very importantly, never just put people aside. Especially not when you are at the beginning of your career. I don't mean that in an overly opportunistic way, but you never know what connections might help you later on."
THE SPORTSCHOOL
Do you see that the role of women in Hollywood has changed permanently?
"I am hopeful. We, as women in Hollywood, have tried to break that glass ceiling more often than not and then again we didn't keep it up. Resulting in double standards and unequal rewards. I think it's different now. And hopefully will continue to be."
What is one piece of advice that helps you in the business part of the film industry?
"Don't go for the safe choice too often. Keep travelling -if the weather allows of course- and sometimes step out of your own safe little world to keep a wide field of vision. A lot of films I make or produce are not a 'hallelujah project' that everyone says will be 'great'. There are often enough question marks about whether it can become something. But if something in that one film or series makes me triggered, then I go for it. If everyone says, 'yes, you must do this!' Then I get suspicious." (laughs)
In an industry where your body is watched so closely, you seem fearless. Whether a trained mercenary or a brand-new mother. Now that you are a bit older, do you also look at your body differently?
"Absolutely, that has been constantly changing in my 20s, 30s and now 40s. In my 20s I never went to the gym, I hardly knew what it was. Then 30 was around the corner and it was 'ohhh, that's why people need a gym'. I appreciate my body more now, because I found out that you have to work damn hard for it to keep it good. On the one hand, to stay in shape, but also underneath."
You don't shy away from changing your body for a role. To go for a complete athlete or to gain weight. What was your most intense experience in this?
"That was actually after my role in Tully. I gained quite a bit of weight before that, but after six months of hard training again, my body did not change. I thought I was 'dying'. I was doing a press junket for another film and no one knew I had put on weight for Tully. They probably just thought, Zozo, who has let herself go, haha. I called my doctor and told him I didn't get it anymore, because I was doing everything I could. His response: yeah, but you're 42 Charlize. Well, fuck you, I thought, hahaha. In the end, it took a year and a half for everything to come off."After almost 25 years, what do you like best about acting?
"That I can analyse human behaviour. And to do so as honestly as possible. All my life, I find it immensely interesting to observe people and see things that might not be so attractive or accepted by most people. Those things don't scare me, but rather I embrace them. They inspire and I can potentially use them in future roles."
You also dare to go far with a role. Does that work 'addictively'?
"To keep looking for something extreme you mean? Take Mad Max: Fury Road or Bombshell. Only when it's a role I'm a bit afraid to take on -like standing on an edge and you know it's going to be raw and intense- do I really feel like it. Otherwise, I don't. Because my work is extremely important to me, but it's second or third in my life. I've always felt that way. I think that's because I learned at a young age that you are always and everywhere responsible for your own happiness. You can't afford to rely on others for that."
What would the Charlize of 25 years ago say to the Charlize of today?
"My 20s felt very too rushed. I never took the rest to enjoy myself. I thought time was running out and felt I had to do everything. Only much later did I realise that this rush is unnecessary. You can dwell on something and enjoy it. You don't have to worry that you'll miss something right away. I wish someone had told me this."
The Old Guard is now available on Netflix
Theron's Best
2 Days in the Valley (1996), That Thing You Do (1996), The Devil's Advocate (1997), Celebrity (1998), The Astronaut's Wife (1999), The Cider House Rules (1999), The Yards (2000), Sweet November (2001), The Italian Job (2003), Monster (2003), North Country (2005), In the Valley of Elah (2007), The Road (2009), Young Adult (2011), Prometheus (2012), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Atomic Blonde (2017), Tully (2018), Long Shot (2019), Bombshell (2019)
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