Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Charlize Theron Appreciation


Charlize Theron
7 August 1975 (Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa)

"I think that’s a good way to view the quality of life, to realise how valuable and how short it is for all of us. And it doesn’t matter what your occupation is, it’s your choice to live your life well, and make time for the things that are important to you.

To this day Charlize Theron's work as Aileen Wuornos in Monster, for which she got dozens of accolades including Oscar remains the most astonishing performance I've seen. For a woman as gorgeous as Theron who gave us so many portraits of delicate women, always possessing powerful inner strength like in The Cider House Rules or North Country to transform into this repulsive, ugly yet deep down fragile woman was just shocking. Not for a moment you forget it's Theron delivering something which can only be described as the finest acting one can deliver, but at the same time you are immersed in Aileen's world and the memory of the fact it's just an actress playing her is almost like a self preservation while witnessing this brutal, uncompromising tragedy.

There is a huge number of movies that while were far from great themselves had some of Charlize's best and most unique work in them - two of Woody Allen's films - The Curse of Jade Scorpion and Celebrity - have lovely, ironic work from Charlize, in the first one she stars as sex crazed femme fatale in the latter as a crazy, intoxicated model. There is also Aeon Flux, which is a mess, but it's worth seeing just for Charlize running around playing with fascinating futuristic gadgets and Hancock which features Charlize as, very fittingly, a goddess.And who can forget that moment from Trapped where she says "It's a scalpel, Joe. It will take your equipment off so easy you'll barely even feel it." when she holds a scalpel to Kevin Bacon's penis?

The more subtle films like Sweet November or The Cider House Rules didn't impress me, but she was the best part about them. It's almost impossible to forget her strength that she always shows despite circumstances in all of her scenes in these movies and her angelic blond locks. Then there was In the Valley of Ellah where she was heartbreaking in the quickest of moments and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers where she managed to create incredibly strong work despite the fact she ony had few scenes. It also marks the performance in which she looked the most beautiful.

This year Charlize delivered two great performances in Snow White and the Huntsman, where she was one of the redeeming things in the movie as Evil Queen Ravenna and in Prometheus where she played icy Meredith Vickers

The reason why Theron is one of my favorite actresses is not just because of her indubitable talent and the fact she always give 100% in her work. She posses wonderful sense of humour and genuinely good heart - she is involved in number of charities dealing with various issues, but the one that means the most to me is the help she gives to the animals, being active member of PETA and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. She also actively helps the gey cause, supporting them in the fight for getting the right to marry.. She is not just one of my favorite actresses, she is my role model.
10 favorite movies:
Monster
The Devil's Advocate 
The Road
In the Valley of Ellah 
Celebrity
The Cider House Rules
The Astronaut's Wife

10 favorite performances:
Monster
Arrested Development
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Celebrity
In the Valley of Ellah 
Trapped 
Sweet November

5 favorite scenes:
  • The last moments in courtroom in North Country
  • The first kill in Monster
  • Mavis watches the band play in the bar in Young Adult
  • Tiny Teddy in Arrested Development 
  • First "Mirror, mirror" scene in Snow White and the Huntsman

10 facts:
  • After winning her Oscar, she returned to great celebrations in her native South Africa, and she even met former South African President Nelson Mandela. When he praised her for putting their country on the map and gave her a hug, Theron broke into tears.
  • When she was 15 her father attacked her mother, and her mother shot him in self-defense. He died, but her mother was not charged in the incident.
  • Has an adoptive son, Jackson Theron (b. November 2011), whom she adopted in March 2012.
  • Has her own charity called the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which is committed to reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence among African youth.
  • Is a supporter of animal rights and appeared in a PETA ad for its anti-fur campaign.
  • Suffers from OCD to the extent that, if renting a house/hotel room during a movie shoot, cannot relax until she has explored every closet, locker and drawer in the premises.
  • Was in consideration for the part of Satine in Moulin Rouge! 
  • Trained as a ballet dancer at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, and performed in both "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker". Her dancing career ended after a knee injury.
  • Charlize has two dogs -  pitbull Blue and terrier mutt Blakely
  • She says her dogs are actually helping her raise her son. 
5 things that make me jealous:
  • She shot a sex scene with Idris Elba for Prometheus
  • She is either dating/will date/should date Michael Fassbender
  • She is tall
  • She has a perfect face
  • She is rich enough to be able to really help the causes she believes in.


38 comments:

  1. I am jealous of her for the same reasons. She's so awesome. It has taken me a while to get around to her, but I'm glad that I have. Totally love her now. Mavis has become one of my favourite performances ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here, once I saw a lot of her movies I just fell in love. Love Mavis and Dolce!

      Delete
  2. I knew it was her birthday and was waiting for your appreciation post. You didn't disappoint!

    The Prometheus DVD/Bluray is eagerly anticipated for all those deleted scenes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you liked it!

      I really hope that gem of a sex scene will be there :)

      Delete
  3. I actually only just started to really appreciate her within the past year. She's always been good, but even her Arrested Development stint couldn't convince me that she was particularly interesting. Even though it was ballsy to play Aileen Wuornos, it wasn't until 'Young Adult' and the press surrounding that film that I feel like she's come into her own, isn't afraid to speak her mind, and takes pretty active risks with her public likability (which makes me really respect her). She's a bad ass who doesn't seem to take too kindly to the whole Hollywood game. And yeah, her face is flawless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you like her so much! Young Adult, despite not getting the deserved wins and nominations seemed to gain her a lot of fans.

      Delete
  4. A fantastic actress Sati and worthy of highlighting. Theron is the type of good looking actress that could easily have been chosen for mindless romantic comedies but it's credit to her that she's travelled a different path. Monster and Young Adult are sublime pieces of work but she's worth watching in pretty much anything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely. I'm so glad she is not doing any of those romantic comedies but I'd love to see her in comedy, she has fantastic sense of humour.

      Delete
  5. Great post. I had no idea she was in "The Life and Death Of Peter Sellers". Or that she has OCD. Although I liked her performance in "Young Adult". That character was so distateful that I could not get fully into it. Plan on rewatching it soon because of all the praise it's been getting. Did not like her work in "Snow White and The Huntsman" it looks like she is overacting. Agree 100% on your thoughts on "Monster". That was a great role for her to play.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should check out The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, the movie is so-so but the performances are amazing.

      Delete
  6. Great post. What a tribute to a wonderful actress as Charlize Theron. Young Adult has to be her best film of the past few years, though I haven't seen her two summer ones (Prometheus and Snow White) yet. And that second bullet under things to be jealous of? Simply adorable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Haha, yeah they are so hot together, their recent photoshoot in W magazine was explosive.

      Delete
  7. You constructed this so well! I was really disappointed when she didn't get an Oscar nod for Young Adult. She should have been nominated just for that Mavis "stare"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! She really should have, it was my second favorite performance that year, right after Rooney Mara.

      Delete
  8. As soon as I saw it was her birthday I knew you would post a piece about her, and it doesn't disappoint! I too thought she was marvellous in Monster, it's the first role where I really noticed her as a serious actress. I have Young Adult on blu ray from our rental service at the moment and cannot wait to watch it! Great post Sati :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I hope you will like Young Adult, it's seems to be one of those movies people either love or hate.

      Delete
  9. No love for The Italian Job? She was awesome in that film. I also loved her as Britt Ekland in The Life & Death of Peter Sellers. Monster is still her crowning achievement but my favorite performance of her so far is Young Adult.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She was but the movie was really average, despite of her and Statham.

      Delete
  10. I love Theron's performances in those Woody Allen films! The scene in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion where Woody can't sleep with her is hilarious. And she really should've been nominated for Young Adult.

    By the way, I just watched The Astronaut's Wife, and I loved the chemistry between her and Depp. The film was entertaining, but the twist at the end could've been better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She was so awesome in Allen's movies, really best thing about those two.

      Yep, the twist was kinda a cliche and it wasn't the best in terms of execution, but I really enjoyed the tension of the climax in the film.

      Delete
  11. It doesn't matter what she does, I'll always wanna "appreciate" Charlize Theron a whole lot more....

    If you get my drift.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I haven't seen too many of her films but of the ones I did I generally like her. She's unbelievably beautiful but not a bimbo, I like that. Plus she's got comedic chops, I mean talk about a perfect woman! I really want to see that Arrested Development movie, she will be in it right??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think so, she says she really wants to play Rita again:)

      Delete
  13. Great post, Sati. Theron is stunning, and I became a big fan of hers after her phenomenal performance in Young Adult. I hope her character gets at least a cameo in the new Arrested Development -- she was a real highlight in season three.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I read she really wants to be in season 4 and the movie, so fingers crossed!

      Delete
  14. Nice to see her make a big comeback this year. She was seemingly gone for so long! Nice appreciation post Stevee :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, but I think you meant "Sati" ;)

      Delete
  15. Great post, her performance in Monster is just amazing and immensely believable

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, she was just incredible in that film!

      Delete
  16. She's very very beautiful, love the first image you put (and basically all of them, because she's so gorgeous). I think I've seen her differently after 'Monster'. Such a great actress. With Fassbender, we'll see the progress. They'll be an amazing power couple if they last. Great post, Sati!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, she is so beautiful, I honestly think she is one of the most beautiful actresses in history.

      Delete
  17. This is a very impressive post. I like Theron too even though I haven't seen all her movies.

    I saw Aeon Flux just because of her but couldn't finish the movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! You should see more of her films, she always delivers quality work.

      Delete
  18. I love the fact that you are so impressed, enamored and fascinated by her, and I totally get it, she is a fantastic woman! I am jealous of these 5 things, too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think everyone is :) She is so awesome, can't wait to see what she does next.

      Delete
  19. I've always seen her for quite some time, never really thought about her. But she truly is amazing and impressive-I think I finally became interested in her because she looks like my voice teacher a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She does? Oh wow I envy you, I'd hit on that teacher :0

      Delete