Charlize Theron Says She Was Once Brought In For Multiple Fittings In Front Of A Male Director To See "How F*ckable They Could Make Me"
She won an Oscar for her 2003 role in "Monster," and since then, Charlize Theron has been known as both a serious actress and a pillar of beauty in Hollywood. She recalled feelings of helplessness in the early stages of her career, though, in which she was belittled and objectified by powerful men around her.
She can do everything from drama to action to comedy, and she has been in the business for decades. But Charlize Theron wants everyone to know that things were very different early on in her career. In fact, there were times when she felt belittled and taken advantage of, but she didn't feel like she was in a position to say anything.
Charlize Theron Says She Was Once Brought in for Multiple Fittings in Front of a Male Director To See "How F*ckable They Could Make Me"
Charlize is a single mother to her two adopted children—Jackson, 10, and August, 7. She says motherhood plays such an important role in her life that she chooses roles based on her perspective as a mom. In an interview with Harper's Bazaar, she opened up about the experiences she had when she was a younger actress. She said not having a choice in the way she dressed made her feel powerless.
“Having absolutely no control over what you’re wearing is a big one that really f*cking annoyed me for years. Having some guy make you have a fitting almost in front of them—stuff like that, it’s really belittling,” Charlize said. “When I started, there was no conversation around it. It was like, ‘This is what you’re wearing.’"
"And I remember one movie in particular, this male director who just kept bringing me in, fitting after fitting after fitting after … And it was just so obvious that it was to do with my sexuality and how f*ckable they could make me in the movie. And when I started out, that was just kind of the norm."
When she was in her 20s and 30s, Charlize said she "had to be a loud b*tch to just find some space in the room," but she didn't enjoy having to do that. Now that she's a mom, she has accepted the fact that she can't "scream whatever the f*ck I want to." Her kids are in the picture now, and it's not just about her.
"We are this family," she added, "and I'm not just Charlize anymore."
Her son and daughter are now at an age where they understand their mother's level of fame. Their friends at school are starting to ask if their mom is in a Marvel movie. When they drive by billboards of Charlize in a J'adore Dior ad, "they'll pretend they're so embarrassed." But what makes her feel most fulfilled is being close with her kids and hearing them say that nobody makes pasta better than she does.
Updated for accuracy 9/28/2022.