Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theron at the Meteor Awards in 2008 | |
| Born | 7 August 1975 Benoni, Transvaal Province, South Africa |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, producer, director, fashion model |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Partner | Stuart Townsend (2001–2010) |
| Website | www |
Charlize Theron (/[invalid input: 'icon']ʃɑːrˈliːs ˈθɛrən/; born 7 August 1975) is an South African-born actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s following roles in The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999). Theron won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), for which she became the first African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. She received another Academy Award nomination for her performance in North Country (2005).
Early life
Theron was born in Benoni, in the then Transvaal Province of South Africa, the only child of Gerda Jacoba Aletta (née Maritz; born 27 January 1953) and Charles Jacobus Theron (27 November 1947 – 21 June 1991).[1] Her mother is of German descent and her father was of Occitan and Dutch ancestry; Theron is descended from early Huguenot settlers, and Boer War figure Daniel Theron was her great-great uncle.[2] "Theron" is an Occitan surname (originally spelled Théron) pronounced in Afrikaans as "Tronn", although she has said that the way it is pronounced in South Africa is "Thrown".[3] She changed the pronunciation when she moved to the U.S.
Although fluent in English, her first language is Afrikaans.[4][5] She grew up on her parents' farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg.[6] Her father died on 21 June 1991, after he was shot by Theron's mother. Theron's father, who suffered from alcoholism,[6] physically attacked her mother and threatened both women while drunk. The shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defence and her mother faced no charges.[1][2]
Theron attended Putfontein Primary School (Laerskool Putfontein). Those years were a period she characterises as not "fitting in":
I wore really nerdy glasses because I was blind as could be and the boys didn't like [me]. ... I didn't have any boyfriends, but lots of crushes. ... I wasn't in the popular crowd. There was a really popular girl at school and I was obsessed with her. ... I was in tears one day because I couldn't sit next to her. ... I actually got a lot of the mean-girl stuff from the ages of 7 to 12. I was pretty much a mess in primary school. But I got that out of my system by the time I got to high school and was more immune to all of that stuff.[7]
At 13, Theron was sent to boarding school and began her studies at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg.[6]
Career
Though seeing herself as a dancer,[8] Theron at 16 traveled to Milan, Italy, on a one-year modelling contract,[6] after winning a local competition.[8] She went to New York to model and decided to remain, attending the Joffrey Ballet School, where she trained as a ballet dancer until a knee injury closed this career path[8] at 19.[9] As Theron recalled in 2008,
I went to New York for three days to model, and then I spent a winter in New York in a friend's windowless basement apartment. I was broke, I was taking class at the Joffrey Ballet, and my knees gave out. I realized I couldn’t dance anymore, and I went into a major depression. My mom came over from South Africa and said, "Either you figure out what to do next or you come home, because you can sulk in South Africa."[8]
Intending now to work in movies, Theron flew to Los Angeles, California, on a one-way ticket her mother bought her.[8] During her early months there, she went to a Hollywood Boulevard bank to cash a cheque her mother had sent her to help with the rent.[10] When the teller refused to cash it, Theron engaged in a shouting match with her.[6] Upon seeing this, talent agent John Crosby,[10] in line behind her, handed her his business card and subsequently introduced her to casting agents and also an acting school.[11][10] She later fired him as her manager after he kept sending her scripts for films similar to Showgirls and Species.[12] After several months in the city, she was cast in her first film part, a non-speaking role in the direct-to-video film Children of the Corn III (1995).[6] Her first speaking role was a supporting but significant part in 2 Days in the Valley.[6] Larger roles in widely released Hollywood films followed, and her career expanded in the late 1990s with box-office successes like The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), and The Cider House Rules (1999).[6] She was on the cover of the January 1999 issue of Vanity Fair as the "White Hot Venus".[13]
After appearing in other films, Theron starred as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003).[6] Film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema".[14] For this role, Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004,[15] as well as the SAG Award and the Golden Globe Award.[16] She is the first South African to win an Oscar for Best Actress.[17] The Oscar win pushed her to The Hollywood Reporter's 2006 list of highest-paid actresses in Hollywood; earning US$10 million for both her subsequent films, North Country and Æon Flux, she ranked seventh, behind Halle Berry, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Renée Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman. [citation needed]
On 30 September 2005, Theron received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[17] In the same year, she starred in the financially unsuccessful science fiction thriller Æon Flux. [citation needed]
Theron received Best Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her lead performance in the drama North Country.[15][16] Ms. magazine also honoured her for this performance with a feature article in its Fall 2005 issue. [citation needed] She also received the 2005 Spike Video Game Award for Best Performance by a Human Female for her voiceover work in the Æon Flux video game.[18][19]
In 2005 Theron portrayed Rita, Michael Bluth's (Jason Bateman) love interest, on the third season of Fox's critically acclaimed television series Arrested Development.[20] She also received Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her role of Britt Ekland in the 2004 HBO film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. [citation needed]
In 2008, Theron was named the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year.[21] That year she also starred with Will Smith in the superhero film Hancock, and in late 2008 she was asked to be a UN Messenger of Peace by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.[22]
In October 2009, Theron was cast to star in a sequel to the Mad Max films, titled Mad Max: Fury Road. [23][24]
On 4 December 2009, Theron co-presented the draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, accompanied by several other celebrities of South African origin. During rehearsals she drew an Ireland ball instead of France as a joke at the expense of FIFA, referring to Thierry Henry's handball controversy in the play off match between France and Ireland.[25][26] The stunt alarmed FIFA enough for it to fear she might do it again in front of a live global audience.[27]
Theron plays the Wicked Queen in the film Snow White & the Huntsman, in production in 2011.[28]
In 2011, she described her process for becoming the characters in her film:
When I'm figuring out a character, for me it's easy, since once I say yes to something, I become super-obsessed about it — and I have an obsessive nature in general. How I want to play it starts at that moment. It's a very lonely, internal experience. I think about [the character] all the time — I observe things, I see things and file things [in my head], everything geared to what I'm going to do. I'm obsessed with the human condition. You read the script and become obsessed with [a character's] nature, her habits. When the camera rolls, it's time to do my job, to do the honest truth. You can't do that part of the [character-creation] work when you're [in the middle of] making the film. At least I can't. [29]
Personal life
Theron lives in the Los Angeles area. From 1997 to 2001, she dated Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins.[30] Theron then began a relationship with Irish actor Stuart Townsend, with whom she starred in Trapped (2002) and Head in the Clouds (2004).[30] Theron and Townsend separated in January 2010 after nearly nine years together.[31]
Theron became a naturalised citizen of the United States in May 2007.[32]
She signed with William Morris Endeavour in 2009 and is represented by CEO Ari Emanuel.[33]
Health concerns
While filming Æon Flux in Berlin, Germany, Theron suffered a herniated disc in her neck, which occurred as a result of her suffering a fall while filming a series of back handsprings. This required her to wear a neck collar for a month.[34]
In July 2009, Theron was diagnosed with a serious stomach virus, thought to be contracted while travelling outside the United States.[35] She was hospitalised at Cedars-Sinai Hospital and she finished convalescing in her own home.[36]
When filming The Road, Theron injured her vocal chords during the labor screaming scenes. [37]
Promotional deals
Having signed a deal with John Galliano in 2004, Theron replaced Estonian model Tiiu Kuik as the spokeswoman in the "J'adore" advertisements by Christian Dior.[38] Galliano has reputedly cited her as a muse and has been creating couture dresses for her to wear to formal red carpet events such as the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. [citation needed]
From October 2005 to December 2006, Theron earned US$3 million for the use of her image in a worldwide print media advertising campaign for Raymond Weil watches.[39] In February 2006, she and her loan-out corporation were sued by Weil for breach of contract.[39][40] The lawsuit was settled on 4 November 2008.[41]
Activism
Theron is involved in women's rights organisations, and has marched in pro-choice rallies.[42]
Theron also is a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She appeared in a PETA ad for its anti-fur campaign.[43] She is a supporter of marriage equality and attended a march to support that in Fresno, California, on 30 May 2009.
In July 2009, Theron's Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) announced a coalition with LAFC Soccer Club to give soccer fields to rural areas in South Africa. The US youth soccer club LAFC Chelsea made a three-year commitment to help build a community-wide soccer program for the schools in the Umkhanyakude district, encompassing uniforms, equipment, professional training for local coaches, referees and administrators, and health education.[44]
In December 2009, CTAOP and TOMS Shoes partnered to create a limited edition unisex shoe. The shoe was made from vegan materials and inspired by the African baobab tree, the silhouette of which was embroidered on blue and orange canvas. Ten-thousand pairs were given to destitute children, and a portion of the proceeds went to CTAOP.[45]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arrested Development | Rita (Mr.F) | 5 episodes |
| 2006 | Robot Chicken | Daniel's Mom / Mother / Waitress | 1 episode |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Crossfire | Mysterious and dangerous rescuer | Song by Brandon Flowers |
References
- ^ a b "Charlize Theron". BiographyChannel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Karsten, Chris (2009). Charlize: Life's One Helluva Ride. Human & Rousseau. pp. 14–19.
- ^ "Charlize Theron Interview". UPI via AClassCelebs.com. 6 September 2001. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Charlize Theron". AccessHollywood.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Charlize Theron". People. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2004 date and timestamps needed
- ^ Chi, Paul (27 November 2011). "Charlize Theron: I Was Teased By Mean Girls in High School". People. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url=is malformed: liveweb (help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e Hirschberg, Lynn (24 February 2008). "Charlize Angel". The New York Times T Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Higgins, Charlotte (24 August 2006). "Play It Tough". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c Foley, Jack. "In the Valley of Elah: Charlize Theron interview". IndieLondon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ Davidson, Sara (2005). "Charlize Theron Interview". Reader's Digest. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Snyder, Gabriel (2008). "Charlize". W. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Philippe J. Salazar An African Athens, p. 112, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002 ISBN 978-0805833416
- ^ Ebert, Roger (1 January 2004). "Reviews: Monster". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Academy Awards Database: Charlize Theron". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
- ^ a b "Golden Globe Award Database: Charlize Theron". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 30 January 2008.
- ^ a b "Hollywood honours actress Theron". BBC NEWS. 30 September 2005.
- ^ "Spike TV Video Game Awards 2005 Winners Announced". gamezone.com. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|unused_data=ignored (help) - ^ "Video Game Awards 05' Pictures". cbsnews.com. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|unused_data=ignored (help) - ^ "Charlize Theron gets 'Arrested' this season". MSNBC. 30 August 2005. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ "Hasty Pudding To Honor Walken, Theron". the Harvard Crimson. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|lasat=ignored (help) - ^ "Entertainment | Actress to become UN peace envoy". BBC News. 15 November 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ "Mad Max to the Rescue... again". dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
- ^ McNary, Dave (29 October 2009). "Charlize Theron to star in 'Mad' film". Variety. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
- ^ O'Brien (3 December 2009). "Theron has a ball at FIFA's expense". The Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
{{cite web}}: Text "first Jason" ignored (help) - ^ Charlize puts Ireland in the finals. 4 December 2009
- ^ "FIFA shock as Charlize Theron picks Ireland as first team in World Cup draw, Hollywood star pulls stunt on World Cup officials in South Africa". Irishcentral.com. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
- ^ Huffington Post – Charlize Theron to play evil queen in Snow White and the huntsman
- ^ Lovece, Frank (30 November 2011). "High School Disunion: Charlize Theron, Diablo Cody & Jason Reitman on 'Young Adult'". Film Journal International.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url=is malformed: liveweb (help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Charlize Theron Biography". People.com. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
- ^ Graham, Caroline (31 January 2010). "Charlize Theron 'rings off' after secret split with Stuart Townsend". The Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
- ^ Rosen, Judy (12 March 2008). "Charlize Theron: Glad To Be A U.S. Citizen". CBS News. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
- ^ "Ari Emanuel: 21st Century Hollywood Mogul". The Independent. UK. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Charlize Theron Talks About Starring in "Aeon Flux"". About.com. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ "Report: Charlize Theron Hospitalized With Serious Virus". Fox News. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
- ^ "Charlize Theron Recovering From 'Unknown' Virus". Digitaljournal.com. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
- ^ The Road Region 1 DVD, Special feature: The Making of The Road
- ^ "Dior signs Charlize Theron". CNN. 13 August 2004.
- ^ a b Charlize Theron's Screen Gems from The Smoking Gun
- ^ "Actress Charlize Theron Sued by Swiss Watchmaker". Associated Press. 6 February 2007.
- ^ "Charlize Theron settles $20M lawsuit brought by Swiss watchmaker". Accesshollywood.com. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ "Hillary takes on Bush". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 April 2004.
- ^ "Charlize Theron Dogs the Fur Trade". People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Retrieved 16 January 2008.
- ^ "Charlize Theron gives soccer opportunities to children". Looktothestars.org. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
- ^ "Charlize Theron Designs Shoes with TOMS for Charity". People. 17 December 2009.
External links
- Use dmy dates from July 2011
- Ill-formatted IPAc-en transclusions
- 1975 births
- Afrikaner people
- American film actors
- Best Actress Academy Award winners
- Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
- GLAAD Media Awards winners
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead winners
- Living people
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- People from Benoni
- South African activists
- South African emigrants to the United States
- South African female models
- South African film actors
- South African people of Dutch descent
- South African people of German descent
- South African people of Huguenot descent
- United Nations Messengers of Peace
- White South African people