Charlize Theron in The Devil’s Advocate
Rarely has there been so much buzz attending the emergence of a new Hollywood star, but concerning the lithe and leggy blonde Charlize Theron, the tag of “It” girl for the 1990s is perfectly apt. The preternatural poise acquired from years of ballet training that enabled her to win a modeling contest at 16 and escape to the world beyond her South African homeland has stood her in good stead on her meteoric rise in show business. She even has a “discovery” story to rival that of Lana Turner’s at Schwab’s, attracting the attention of talent manager John Crosby with a tour de force hissy fit thrown in a bank when a teller refused to cash the starving would-be actress’ out-of-state check. Lady Luck was smiling on her as she lost the lead in the disastrous “Showgirls” (1995) to Elizabeth Berkley, paving the way for her breathtaking debut as Helga Svelgen, the sexy, cat-suited Norwegian hit woman who went toe-to-toe with Teri Hatcher and titillated fellow assassin James Spader in John Herzfeld’s “2 Days in the Valley” (1996).
Theron was so unknown she remained nameless in the marketing campaign for “2 Days in the Valley”. Nevertheless her scantily clad, gun-toting image stared down from billboards and stopped traffic and imprinted itself on the studio mindset. Offers poured in for her to essentially play that icy sex kitten again, but she demurred, further displaying her versatility with an about-face as the prissy marriage-minded girlfriend of a drummer (Tom Everett Scott) in Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, “That Thing You Do!” (also 1996), earning a blush from Hanks when she told him at the audition of the crush she had on him since seeing “Splash” at the age of nine. Adorable in her comic role as a waitress who catches Jeff Daniels’ eye in Jonathan Lynn’s “Trial and Error”, Theron really impressed with her deglamorized turn as Keanu Reeves’ brunette wife in Taylor Hackford’s thriller “The Devil’s Advocate” (both 1997). Fighting hard against the stereotyping of her as too beautiful for the part, she more than held her own against Al Pacino and Reeves, with an onscreen breakdown that landed her character in the loony bin proving she was much, much more than just a pretty face.
Woody Allen gave Theron the chance to spoof her modeling experience as the oversexed supermodel of “Celebrity”, and she enjoyed her first starring turn in the well-crafted Disney remake of “Mighty Joe Young” (both 1998), feeling quite at home as the orphaned African girl who grows up with an orphaned gorilla and remains his devoted protector as an adult. Once again convincingly maneuvering through a wide range of emotions, Theron was right on the money with her mixture of strong-willed resilience and moist-eyed vulnerability as “The Astronaut’s Wife” (1999), an extraterrestrial spin on “Rosemary’s Baby” which disappeared quickly due to its predictability and lackluster promotion by the studio. She continued to impress as Candy, a young woman tempted by desire for another man while her soldier boyfriend is away at the war, in “The Cider House Rules” (also 1999), glad that director Lasse Hallstrom and screenwriter John Irving (for the first time adapting one of his novels to the screen) had not made her character overly sympathetic.
The sky seems the limit for Theron, arguably the hottest actress in Hollywood with five movies coming out in 2000. She endured freezing on-location conditions and even took on some stunt work for her role in John Frankenheimer’s “Reindeer Games”, which she told Premiere (December 1999) was the “most layered character I’ve ever played,” a restless Midwestern woman whose sexual dalliance with an ex-con played by Ben Affleck, inadvertently leads him back to a life of crime. In 2000, there was an appearance as Faye Dunaway’s daughter in “The Yards”, not to mention her teaming with Will Smith and Matt Damon for Robert Redford’s “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, set against the backdrop of a golf tournament in 1930s Georgia. She also joined another salt-n-pepper tandem, Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr., for “Men of Honor”, the true story of Carl Brashear, the Navy’s first African-American salvage-and-retrieval diver.
In 2001, Theron was seen in two relatively poor, though not abominable films, Woody Allen’s “Curse of the Jade Scorpion” and “Sweet November” with Keanu Reeves. 2002 saw Theron playing in a chilling drama (”Trapped”) and in a daring comedy (”Waking Up in Reno”), but neither did much business or added anything exceptional to her acting resume. She returned in 2003 opposite Mark Wahlberg in F. Gary Gray’s slick, engaging but conventional remake of the 1969 heist drama “The Italian Job” playing second-generation safecracker Stella Bridger, who introduces Mini-Coopers into the plot for the much-praised finale. Effective in an otherwise stock role of the sexy, icy babe, Theron next stretched her acting muscles by taking on the role of convicted murderer Aileen Wuornos, one of America’s first known female serial killers in writer-director Patty Jenkins’ “Monster” (2003). In a glammed-down, bulked-up bid for greater dramatic credibility, Theron’s stunning physical transformation and intense recreation of the highly intense Wournos resulted in universal praise and put her on most critics’ short lists for the best actress of the year. The actress easily received her first Academy Award for Best Actress and took home the year’s Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, as well as the Independent Spirit Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.
Theron was next seen in the low-profile wartime melodrama “Head in the Clouds” (2004), playing Gilda, a woman notorious for her free-spirited affairs who becomes entangled in the life of a working-class Irish student (Stuart Townsend) and her limping best friend (Penelope Cruz). She next hit the small screen for a pair of projects, appearing as actress Britt Ekland in the HBO biopic “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” (2004), for which she was Emmy nominated, and she signed on to appear in a recurring role in the critically acclaimed Fox comedy “Arrested Development” in 2005, playing Rita, a British schoolteacher who catches the eye of Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman). Meanwhile, she had another acting triumph with her turn in “North Country” (2005), playing an abused, misunderstood single mother of two who finds pride and economic freedom as a Minnesota miner, only to feel the constant humiliation of sexual harassment. The film and Theron’s character were inspired by the true events surrounding the first ever class action sexual harassment suit against a corporation, and while the actress’ performance was powerful—she earned nominations from the Golden Globes and Academy Awards for Best Actress—the film from director Nikki Caro never quite transcends the realm of a very high quality Lifetime telepic. Next up, Theron took on the live-action role of the edgy animated sci-fi heroine “Aeon Flux” (2005).
Born: on 08/07/1975 in Benoni, South AfricaJob Titles: Actor, ModelFamily
Father: Charles Theron. French; reportedly was abusive to his wife who shot and killed him in 1991
Mother: Gerda Theron. German; shot and killed her husband in 1991; no charges filed as it was determined she acted in self-defense when he attacked her while drunk; took over family business; remarried but separated from second husband after the death of her stepson Denver
Step-brother: Denver. died in a 1997 auto accident at the age of 22
Significant Others
Companion: Craig Bierko. together from c. 1996 to 1998
Companion: Stephan Jenkins. born c. 1964; lead singer with band Third Eye Blind; dated from May 1998 to early 2001; rumored to be dating musician Vanessa Carlton
Companion: Stuart Townsend. dating from summer 2001
Milestones
1981 Began studying ballet at age six (date approximate)
1991 At age 16, won an Italian modeling agency contest
1991 Moved to Milan and for the next year traveled all over Europe modeling
1994 Settled in Los Angeles; talent manager John Crosby volunteered to represent her after witnessing a colorful tantrum aimed at a bank teller who would not cash her out-of-state check
1995 Worked as an extra on “Children of the Corn III”
1996 Feature film debut, John Herzfeld’s “2 Days in the Valley”; also had featured role in Tom Hanks’ directorial debut, “That Thing You Do!”
1997 Won praise for her performance as Keanu Reeves’ neglected wife in “The Devil’s Advocate”
1998 Had featured role as an oversexed supermodel in Woody Allen’s “Celebrity”
1998 Starred oppostie Bill Paxton in remake of “Mighty Joe Young”
1999 Offered a strong turn as a woman torn between two loves in “The Cider House Rules”
1999 Played the title role in the thriller “The Astronaut’s Wife”
2000 Acted with Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr in “Men of Honor”, the true story of the US Navy’s first African-American salvage-and-retrieval diver
2000 Co-starred with Ben Affleck in “Reindeer Games”, a thriller directed by John Frankenheimer
2000 Portrayed Faye Dunaway’s daughter in “The Yards”
2000 Starred with Matt Damon and Will Smith in Robert Redford’s “The Legend of Bagger Vance”
2001 Reteamed with Keanu Reeves for the remake of “Sweet November”
2001 Reunited with Woody Allen for a role in “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion”
2002 Starred in comedy “Waking Up in Reno” with Billy Bob Thorton
2002 Starred in drama “Trapped” with Kevin Bacon as parents whose daughter is kidnapped
2003 Portrayed real life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster”
2003 Starred alongside Mark Wahlberg as the female lead in “The Italian Job”
2004 Cast as blonde bombshell and former Bond girl Britt Ekland in the HBO bio-pic “The Life and Times of Peter Sellers”; received Golden Globe, SAG and Emmy nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2004 Signed on to be the new face of Christian Dior’s fragrance J’adore; appeared in print ads and TV commercials
2005 Cast in “North Country” a fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States; earned Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress
2005 Guest-starred in five episodes of the Fox comedy “Arrested Development,” playing the love interest of Jason Bateman
2005 Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (September)
2005 Starred in the title role in the feature adaptation of the MTV cartoon “Aeon Flux”
2007 Played a police detective opposite Tommy Lee Jones in Paul Haggis’ “In the Valley of Elah”
Cast in a failed UPN pilot, “Hollywood Confidential” (aired in 1997)
Co-starred with Will Smith in “Hancock” (lensed 2007)
Danced professionally in Johannesberg
Grew up on family’s farm in Benoni, South Africa
Moved to Miami
Narrowly beaten out by Elizabeth Berkley for the lead in the disastrous “Showgirls”; as she told THE GUARDIAN (March 18, 1999): “It was like I had some guardian angel”
Relocated to NYC, taking modeling jobs to pay the rent; studied with the Joffrey Ballet for eight months before a knee injury curtailed dance career
Reunites with boyfriend Stuart Townsend for “The Battle in Seattle,” who is directing her in the film about the 1999 World Trade Organization protests (lensed 2006)
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