Charlize Theron on the Night Her Mother Killed Her Father in Self-Defense
The actor Charlize Theron grew up with an alcoholic father. When she was 15, he tried to kill her and her mother, shooting through her bedroom door. Her mother shot and killed him in an act that was found to be self-defense.
“I think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone,” Theron says in her interview. As an adult, she has worked to prevent violence against women and girls.
During the full conversation, Theron talks about her childhood, her early career, her new movie, “Apex,” and more. Watch it on our YouTube channel. #theinterview #charlizetheron
Video by The New York Times
29 Comments
I wonder if she’s a gun grabber.
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"Nichol Simpson" God bless to all!
Wow. Just wow. I want to hug her and her mom.
Her mother did what ANY MOTHER WOULD DO IN THIS SITUATION ! SHE PUT AN END TO THE TERROR/ ABUSE!
I was 14 when my dad died of what our small town said was a anyersm, they first said it was a homicide because of the injury on the back of his head and he was a drug inforant to get out of sexual abuse charges. It had been an ice storm that day, so i was off school sleeping with my girlfriend in the next room and we heard a loud crack. His body was lodged in front of the bathroom door. He was so abusive, he punched me and knocked me unconscious the week before. My mom was afraid he would kill me. He molested my older sister and took her virginity at 10, which is why he was an informant, …he shut the phone off so we couldn't call for help, i ran next door to call, it took the ambulance an hour to get there, he lay on the floor blue. I sat in a chair and smoked a cigarette, filled with confusion and relief. He terrorized us… It took me forever to reconsile the whole thing.
I really hope she doesn’t think what she did started all this. That act couldn’t have been why he came home shooting through the door. Did her mother lock the doors and tell him he couldn’t come in?
So sad. And yes, it is very prevalent.
She’s right. My father abused our household for years. By the grace of God no one died, but he did manage to burn the house down to the ground one day I one of his rages. Not one person ever stepped up to him about this. Not one person ever said a word of support to us. I live with the emotional trauma of his violence daily. I am so glad that she is speaking publicly about this. This childhood has been my disgraceful secret since I moved far away from this town.
I’m so sorry for your pain. No one deserves this. ❤
Wow ..
you never know what people are going through.
Wow, I had no idea.
You are brave! Your mom did the right thing when it counted!
Omg, you are so right. Who would have thought you are so relatable 😢I understand the feeling. Good thing that you can talk about it
OMG I had no idea she had such a traumatizing childhood
Truth.
❤I luv u Charlize your s strength is. Amazing🎉 so proud of u🎉
There is NO HELP for abused women ANYWHERE ‼️‼️
So scary. I’ll never ever forget the day when my father beat the ish out of my mom next door to my room. I heard it all. So loud to the point that it felt like I can see through the wall what he was doing to her.. it is such a traumatic thing to experience. I was only 11. I’m almost 28 now. He’s still alive but it is very hard to respect someone who’s done so much damage.
I take you and your Mom very seriously. I have lived through multiple, domestic terrors, and I do not believe that my heart will every truly come back to peace because all we have to do is to see what is happening in the World. These white, self-entitled men continue to terrorize women.
🫂
She protected her daughter and herself. Enough.
Oh my god
Bullshit
Fun facts: Women initiate just over 50% of DV in the U.S. (more if you ask the police). For non-reciprocal DV — where one partner doesn’t fight back — women are the culprits 65%+ of the time.
Women are also responsible for the majority of child abuse in the States, and for the VERY large majority of filicide (i.e., killing one’s own children).
It’s time to take back the narrative, gentlemen. Women have been gatekeeping the human condition for far too long, and benefiting from it in ways that are directly harmful to men. We do not need to allow this.
Talk of Domestic Violence, You can't even breathe…Breathing in the free air feels like luxury!
When u have a violent & controlling parent, it doesn’t matter WHAT u do that “sets them off”. It’s THEIR perception of an insult and frankly just a matter of time. I actually wish my mom had tried to protect us. Even if this had been the outcome.
I'm so sorry that you and your mother had to go through this!!
If you are in, or have been in, an abusive relationship, please read Lundy Bancroft's "Why does he do that? Inside the minds of angry and controlling men ". It's very enlightening, and solidly places blame where it should be, with the abuser.
What an awful story. You never know what someone has been through.
Domestic violence is a scary thing 😮