Charlize Theron is an undeniable A-list star, a consummate professional, and an acclaimed thespian. She’s won an Oscar and been nominated two additional times, and she’s managed to avoid being typecast. She’s taken on challenging roles that allow her to subvert the expectations typically directed toward breathtakingly beautiful women.
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While it may seem like Theron has had a wonderful, privileged life filled with good fortune and lucky breaks, people might be surprised when looking back at her childhood in South Africa, the painful trauma she endured as a teenager, and the blood, sweat, and tears she’s shed for some of her most dangerous movie roles.
From growing up as a young child with jaundice and having to watch a violent and ultimately deadly altercation between her parents to enduring serious injury all in the name of her craft, here are some tragic details about Theron’s life that reveal more about the acclaimed actress and human she’s become.
Charlize Theron suffered from jaundice and poor health as a young child
While growing up in Benoni, South Africa, as a small child, Charlize Theron struggled with a number of painful and frightening health issues that threatened her well-being — and she was treated with medicine that seemed to only make things worse.
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As the actress explained during an appearance on “The Graham Norton Show” in 2012, “I was very sick as a baby. I had jaundice, and I was allergic to my mom’s breast milk. It took them a really long time to figure that out. So the sicker I was getting, the more antibiotics they were giving me.” As it turned out, the antibiotics were damaging to her health as well, and eventually, her upper front teeth completely rotted out and needed to be surgically removed.
Apart from being physically painful, it also made her embarrassed when she had to take photos as a kid. Although Theron still smiled (because she felt she had to), the experience clearly left a mark on her psyche as she still looks back on that awkward and uncomfortable time in her life.
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Charlize Theron felt like she never fit in at school and was targeted by mean girls
As Charlize has said in multiple interviews, when looking back on her childhood, the actress always saw herself as the girl who never fit in. She’s described herself as being “tall, lanky, and blonde” with no front teeth (here’s how tall Charlize Theron really is). When her adult teeth came in, Theron still felt awkward around her classmates and was often targeted by mean girls and bullies.
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“I wore really nerdy glasses because I was blind as could be and the boys didn’t like [me],” she told People in 2011 (via CNN). “I wasn’t in the popular crowd. There was a really popular girl at school and I was obsessed with 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.”
Theron went on to explain that she managed to build up some thick skin, and by the time she moved on into high school, she’d become “more immune” to stuff that otherwise would have made her feel bad — undoubtedly a valuable lesson for the actress when it came to her future in the public spotlight.
A violent and tragic altercation between Charlize Theron’s parents changed her life forever
When Charlize Theron was 15 years old, just after she’d come home from her time in boarding school in Johannesburg, her life changed forever. She was at her house with her mom, Gerda, when her alcoholic father, Charles, returned after a night of drinking. He was agitated and carrying a gun, so Theron and her mother hid in a room and locked the door.
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“My father was so drunk that he shouldn’t have been able to walk when he came into the house with a gun,” she told NPR in 2019. “Both of us were leaning against the door from the inside to have him not be able to push through. He took a step back and just shot through the door three times. None of the bullets ever hit us, which is just a miracle.”
Seemingly without any other options, and in an effort to keep herself and her daughter safe, Gerda retrieved her own handgun and opened fire in response, hitting and killing Charles in front of her teenage daughter. In the aftermath, the shooting was determined to be an act of self-defense, and Gerda never faced charges for the shooting. The traumatic incident left some scars on Theron — who never got married — which she later managed to tap into for her role in the 2015 film “Dark Places,” where she plays a woman whose mother and sister were murdered in front of her when she was eight.
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Charlize Theron’s first love was dance, but an injury ended that career path
Long before she became an Oscar-winning thespian, Charlize Theron dreamed of being a professional ballerina and pursued that goal with passion. “I was a ballerina from the time I was four years old and I thought that’s what I’d always do,” she once told Notebook (via Business Standard). She studied abroad, working as a model to survive and throwing herself into learning ballet. She eventually found herself in New York and nearly broke when her knees “gave out” and ended her hopes of professional dancing. Theron said she’d never given any real thought to a “plan B” besides ballet.
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“I realized I couldn’t dance anymore, and I went into a major depression,” Theron told Far Out Magazine in 2020. “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.'” Instead of giving up, and with some maternal encouragement, Theron chose to embrace the performing aspects of ballet while pivoting from dance to acting.
However, she never lost her love for the art of dance, and in July 2024, she took to Instagram to share some big news. “I’ve been a bit MIA lately, but I have a good excuse I swear. It’s because… I started a dance studio!” Theron exclaimed. The actress will be helping others pursue and achieve their own dance dreams with her dance studio, The Six Compound, located in Burbank, California.
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Throughout her career, Charlize Theron has suffered for her art
From her first major role as a killer in “2 Days in the Valley,” through her roles in “The Old Guard,” “Atomic Blonde,” “Hancock,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Bombshell” (where she transformed into Megyn Kelly) and many others, Charlize Theron has made a career out of playing hardcore characters who aren’t afraid to throw down. However, despite movie magic and safety protocols, the physically demanding roles have repeatedly taken a toll on Theron’s health and her body.
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While filming the 2020 action flick “The Old Guard,” Theron badly injured her thumb, which then required surgery, and she was forced to wear a thumb brace for months. She explained to Jimmy Kimmel that she basically “tore the ligament off the bone” and didn’t realize it, leading to further damage. Long before that, while shooting the 2005 sci-fi project “Aeon Flux,” Theron fell during a stunt and landed on her neck. “I was a centimeter away from being completely paralyzed for the rest of my life,” she told News.com.au in 2017. “I had eight years of pain management, where I just couldn’t get rid of the spasms and the nerve damage. I ended up having a (neck) fusion four years ago, and it was the best thing I ever did.”
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She’s shattered her teeth, stressed her vocal cords in scenes requiring her to scream, and even fell into bouts of depression due to changes in her diet and exercise required for different roles. Theron is passionate about performing and takes her work seriously, but clearly suffers for her art behind the scenes. However, despite the struggles, she keeps on showing up.
