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:

Young Adult

Prometheus

North Country

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

North Country

Young Adult

Arrested Development

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

The Burning Plain

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.