31 Fascinating Facts About Charlize Theron That Every Fan Should Know

Charlize Theron, world renowned for her statuesque model-like figure, blonde hair, and green eyes, is the first South African-born woman to win an Oscar. But do you know she turned to acting only when she injured both her knees, smashing any hope for her ballet dancing career? Here are a few more little known facts about the Academy Award winning actress:

1. She was the guest of honor at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on March 11, 2004, where she met the former South African President Nelson Mandela, right after winning her Oscar Award for her performance in the movie “Monster.”
2. The former President praised her for putting their country on the map with her Oscar Award and gave her a hug, after which Theron reportedly broke into tears.
3. For the birthing scene in the movie “The Road,” director John Hillcoat had initially planned to record the screaming of women at the time of giving birth, and use it in the scene. But she had objected to it, and filmed the scene all by herself, including the scream, which is really her.
4. During the filming of “Mad Max: Fury Road,” she accidentally elbowed Tom Hardy and broke his nose, as she was wearing a green arm cast at the time, which enablde the graphic artists to digitally remove her arm.
5. She claimed the hardest thing during the shooting of “Snow White and the Huntsman,” was walking in the wedding dress in the marriage scene with King Magnus. She said that she was almost hunched over by the time she made it to the altar as the corset was incredibly uncomfortable.
6. It was reported that director Patty Jenkins knew Charlize Theron was the perfect choice for the role of Aileen Wuornos in the movie “Monster,” when she saw a scene from the 1997 movie “The Devil’s Advocate,” in which she played the role of Mary Ann Lomax.
7. Jenkins, who was writing the script of “monster,” said that Theron had allowed a close-up of her nose running, would be open enough to pull off the challenging role of Wuornos.
8. In the “Prometheus” movie, she started having second thoughts while performing the scene in which her character sets an infected Holloway on fire, with a real flamethrower emitting real fire, when she realized that she would be setting a stuntman on fire.
9. The shot of her shocked reaction is her natural reaction, in which she broke her character of the normally icy, emotionless, Vickers. The filmmakers thought it to be really good and kept it in the movie.
10. During the filming of “Æon Flux,” she injured her neck, which led to the postponement of production for several weeks, though the injury was not overly serious.
11. While watching “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” with the pre-existing injury in her neck – a herniated disk – she laughed so hard that her neck locked up, which landed her in the hospital for five days. Since then, she had never had a chance to pick up where she left off.
12. For the movie “Young Adult,” Theron is said to have been the director Jason Reitman’s first and only choice for the lead role of Mavis Gary, and he asked her personally to star in the film at the 2009 Oscars.
13. In preparation for her role as Marlo in the 2018 “Tully” movie, she gained 50 pounds of weight, to the extent that her youngest child, mistook her to be pregnant. It took her more than a year and a half to shed the weight she gained.
14. She claimed that she adhered to an excessive diet of junk foods, In-N-Out Burger, and milkshakes. In order to keep the weight on, she would get up at 2 A.M and eat macaroni and cheese.
15. She trained with eight personal trainers for her role of Lorraine Broughton in “Atomic Blonde” for her intensely physical performance. She also reportedly trained with Keanu Reeves who was in preparation for “John Wick: Chapter 2.”
16. Her movie “The Last Face” was reportedly Sean Penn’s ex-wife Robin Wright’s passion project, who abandoned it after the funding fell through. After Penn’s divorce with Wright, he resurrected the movie, taking on the directing duties and casting Theron in the role, who was his then girlfriend.
17. In the movie “The Road,” it was reported that Kodi Smit-McPhee landed his part against hundreds of boys, after his strong audition and also his resemblance to Theron.
18. For her role of Furiosa in the movie “Mad Max: Fury Road,” she had her head shaved fully. This resulted in her wearing a wig for her role of Anna in the movie “A Million Ways to Die in the West.”
19. In preparation of her role as Aileen Wuornos in her award winning movie “Monster,” she gained around 20 to 30 pounds of weight and also had her eyebrows shaved off. She and her co-star Christina Ricci also had to dress in very un-glamorous clothing.
20. During the filming of “Snow White and the Huntsman,” she tore a stomach muscle when she screamed very loudly for a particular scene.
21. She was first cast in the role of Elizabeth Shaw in the movie “Prometheus,” but declined the role due to scheduling conflicts. But later due to a change in her schedule, she was free and was able to take the role of Meredith Vickers.
22. Theron is known to suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It is said that during filming in different locations, she cannot relax in a hotel room or even guest house, without exploring every closet, locker and drawer.
23. Theron spent more than five years developing “Atomic Blonde.” During the filming of the movie, she even cracked two teeth, and was even actually slammed against a padded wall for the pivotal fight on the marble stairs.
24. For the movie “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” she refused to sign on to reprise her role, when she got to know that she was paid less than her co-star Chris Hemsworth. Both of them were paid just over ten million dollars.
25. The movie “Bombshell” was first brought to Theron’s production company. The real intention was for her to produce and also star in the movie. She, apart from producing the movie, decided to star as Megyn Kelly and also brought Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman.
26. During the filming of the movie “Mad Max: Fury Road,” she and her co-star Tom Hardy reportedly had a complicated relationship with the director George Miller, as they had no idea what was being filmed to the point that she had even asked Miller, “what the hell are you doing?”
27. She was reportedly very hesitant about taking on the role of Mary Ann Lomax in “The Devil’s Advocate” in particular about the nude scene, as it was precisely the same reason she turned down the lead role in “Showgirls.”
28. The push-ups scene in the “Prometheus” was actually shot in two different versions – one in which she was fully nude and one in which she wears her underwear. The nude version was shown at San Diego Comic Con for the promotion, but for some reason, it was underwear scene which was used in the final film.
29. In preparation for her role of Mary Ann Lomax in “The Devil’s Advocate,” she spent an hour a day for nearly three months with a psycho-therapist to “practice schizophrenia” during shooting in New York City.
30. She found it to be very difficult to perform her action scenes due to her smoking habit. She struggled a lot in the segments that required her character Vickers to run through sand in boots weighing around thirty pounds.
31. Charlize Theron Net Worth: $130 Million