A Field Guide to Charlize Theron

Superstar Charlize Theron is one of the most gifted actresses of all of the famously pretty women that Hollywood has in its midst at the moment.  She stars in, as shown above looking all luscious, dirty and bald in the upcoming summer blockbuster "Mad Max: Fury Road".  

Fuck, she looks so lovely and tough in this.  Theron plays the role of the Imperator, Furiosa--a woman warrior with a partially mechanized arm in the $150 million dollar summer blockbuster directed by George Miller.  Theron lobbied for the part of this heroine and readily shaved her head when it became clear that it was necessary for her character, a sterile woman in a world where all other women are rounded up and turned into breeding and milking slaves.  Theron has never been a woman who shied away from creative risks.

Theron is from Benoni, Transvaal Province, South Africa and she turns forty years old this year.  Theron grew up in a chaotic household with an alcoholic, abusive father who ended up being murdered in self-defense by Theron's mother as young Charlize watched.  In early interviews, Theron told reporters a story of her father dying in a car accident until the true story of what happened surfaced.  Gotta give her credit--a lot of people would have folded over something like that happening in her life.  Theron seems to have used it as fuel for her creative engine.  She started modeling at the age of sixteen and went on to study ballet in New York City.  Her time with the Joffrey Ballet had to end over severe knee injuries she suffered trying to be a dancer.

From there, she moved to Los Angeles to try to be an actress but found that her South African accent was a problem in getting roles. She would watch television for hours to change her accent.  The accent kept her from scoring any roles until she was discovered at a bank by Rene Russo's agent who saw her beauty and potential and helped her score her first roles in a movie--a small role in "Children of the Corn III".  

From there, the bigger roles and the nudity that we adore followed.  In the 1996 crime drama "2 Days In The Valley", Theron is in a skintight white catsuit and gets in a catfight with Teri Hatcher that is worth seeing the movie for.  Her most early big role was her in the role of Keanu Reeves' suicidal wife in "Devil's Advocate" where we get to see her fully nude in her portrayal of the girl next door who gets pushed over the edge by Satanic tricks.  She played the role of a sexy supermodel in Woody Allen's "Celebrity" and she glowed pretty much incandescently in her role Candy Kendall in the film adaptation of John Updike's "Cider House Rules", a young woman in need of an illegal abortion.  That movie is definitely worth the rental if you are looking for something to watch and cuddle your loved one to.

Theron did a lot of other movies but in 2003, she took that risk that led to her winning an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Actress.  She played the roloe of executed lesbian prostitute/serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film "Monster" with Christina Ricci assisting the role of Wuornos' greedy girlfriend.  Beauty Theron is nearly unrecognizable in her turn as the raped and abused prostitute who kills to try to take control of her life in a way.  It is one of those movies that stays with you and Theron's skill at bringing Wuornos' story to the screen was just beyond perfect.

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After her turn as sexy Swedish actress Britt Ekland in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers", Theron took on another tough drama, starring in 2005's "North Country" alsongside acting power hitters Sissy Spacek and Frances McDormand.  Theron also played the lead character of Aeon Flux in the liev-action adaptation of the classic animated short series on the very missed in my life show on MTV, "Liquid Television".  Man, I miss that show and all of MTV's animation in general.

In the excellent drama about aging and coming to terms with teenage dreams "Young Adult", Theron plays a successful in life but not in relationships writer who becomes friends with an old high school acquaintance played excellently by Patton Oswalt.  This another that I can not recommend renting enough.  She went on the star in the Ridley Scott sci-fi thriller "Prometheus" and the Seth MacFarlane comedy "A Million Ways to Die In The West" which was not as terrible as the critics seemed to think it was. 

This weekend, though, get your ass to a theater, buy a bucket of corn and watch her and her fury rule a futuristic hell in "Mad Max: Fury Road".  Celebrate the strong woman who has taken her world and made it into something glorious.  It looks like a fucking blast from here.