How Charlize Theron Overcame Her Dark Family Past | The Interview
From Lulu Garcia-Navarro: I’ve never had an interview quite like this one with Charlize Theron. I came in wanting to talk about her storied acting career, which began after she moved on her own to New York to be a ballet dancer, quit because of an injury and was discovered barely out of her teens at a bank in Los Angeles. By her late 20s she had produced, starred in and won an Oscar for the film “Monster,” in which she completely transformed herself to play the serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Since then, she’s been in dark comedies like “Tully” and big-budget fantasies like “Snow White and the Huntsman,” but I was most interested in her latest turn as an action star in films like “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the “Old Guard” franchise and her newest film, “Apex,” in which, at age 50, she kicks butt again, this time while being chased through the Australian wilderness.
But while we did talk about her roles past and present, our conversation almost immediately took a revealing turn. Theron has spoken publicly about the fact that her mother killed her father in self-defense when she was a teenager. But when we talked about it, and the repercussions she’s lived with ever since, memories of her childhood flooded in with a vividness that surprised us both.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/magazine/charlize-theron-interview.html
[00:01:16] Theron’s Oscar speech thanking her mom
[00:03:55] Growing up on a South African farm
[00:06:32] Apartheid and the violence she saw
[00:14:45] The night her mother shot her father in self-defense
[00:19:54] Culture of alcoholism and speaking out
[00:22:12] How trauma changed her relationship with her mom
[00:25:35] Leaving South Africa for dance
[00:27:16] Deciding to pursue acting and move to L.A.
[00:31:40] Why she’s drawn to action roles
[00:33:25] Her experience with injuries and pain
[00:37:44] Valuing life and being emotional
[00:40:15] Her new movie “Apex” and the challenges of action roles
[00:46:39] South Africa’s resilience and joy
[00:49:41] Founding a production company
[00:50:40] Filming “Monster” and the reactions her transformation
[00:56:23] Filming “Mad Max: Fury Road”
[00:58:23] Acting in Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey”
“The Interview” features conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Each week, co-hosts David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro talk to compelling, influential figures in culture, politics, business, sports and beyond — illuminating who they are, why they do what they do and how they impact the rest of us.
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41 Comments
I will see any film this woman has been in – she lifts up everything she acts in. P.S. Madame Interviewer: The word "tomboy" is so OVER.
such a wonderful interview. I love her as an actress and after this interview being so candid, I love her even more as a person. I can relate to many parts of her childhood minus the part where her mom shot her dad. 😳What a crazy situation but so glad her mom protected her. ❤unbelievable story .
Has she ever spoken about this on camera? I've heard the headline, but to hear her tell it is chilling.
Incredible woman.
She shows anyone can reset their mind.
Bravo 👏
Those sleeves tho
I know she doesn't read this comment section, likely, but I just want to thank her for sharing her experience growing up and the trauma of having an abusive and alcoholic parent/father. Thank you.
I love love love love love her so much. She is so reall and brave to share all of this with us. We are lucky to have her in the spotlight ❤️🙏🏼
Thank you
What an amazing woman… My respects!!
What an incredible interview! Ms Garcia Navarro, each question was so thoughtfully put together and asked in the most respectful manner and you gave Charlize the opportunity to sit and verbalise everything that she wanted to so naturally because of the comfort and understanding that you exude as an interviewer. Bravo.
Miss Charlize, you seem like such a bad-ass woman and it was an honour to hear your story and learn about your journey and growth. To be strong enough to leave your home country on your own at 16, even without the traumatic childhood experiences that your father instigated takes immense strength. You clearly take after your beautiful Mama with her strength and resilience. On the flip side, as an ex dancer who lives with chronic illness and chronic pain, and has experienced so much medical gaslighting and had doctors refused to do life altering surgeries for almost a decade, to hear how you pushed through and fought for the care you needed provided me with so much comfort and have given me a much needed kick to keep fighting. Thank you, ladies, for such an insightful interview
Fantastic interview!! And her honesty is as inspiring as her work ❤
My favourite movie of hers is still Mighty Joe Young even though it's about an unnaturally large gorilla because even at her young 23 in that movie she had so much maturity and wisdom and I could feel her beautiful connection to Africa.
Wonderful interview!
My youngest sister regularly gets asked if she’s Charlize, because they look, walk and have mannerisms, confidence, etc that are very much alike.
Charlize is a great actor, and I love her work. I also love how she isn’t like so many in Hollywood, who ruin their faces with plastic surgery and Botox.
She’s as beautiful as she’s always been.
I enjoyed this interview.
Omg. I'm so sorry. Wow. I pray for all women and children to be safe…❤
Charlize is not only talented and beautiful, but a brave, brilliant, caring human being! Awesome interview!
My grandma killed her abusive husband in self-defense with a shotgun. No jail, no court. I’ve always been proud of her.
Justice is protecting the well-being of your adolescent daughter WHILE SHE WAS ALIVE.
Classic Leo. Tough on the outside, soft emo on the inside side.
I love her so much
Very admirable but I can’t listen to anymore of “like, like, like” hundreds of times. It’s making me crazy. Maybe I’m already crazy and too picky, sorry, Charlize. I’ll just watch you in the movies. ❤
Charlize: I am so sorry that you and your mom had t I go thru what you did. Thank you for having the courage to talk about this as it helps everyone who may be facing a similar situation.
Charlize is absolutely right about how women don't get a fair shake.
Shes an amazing human being. And that complexity show so well in every single roles she play.
this is really inspiring, thank you for sharing, I'm a single mom myself of a beautiful talented gitl, she is about to fly and i fell I left so much behind to see her grow up and sometimes i see myself in the mirror and wonder where did time go, so thank you for being greatfull with your mom, it means a lot to me right now
Great interview. I love her vulnerability in this interview. She is a star.
best of luck
What an incredibly strong and beautiful woman. Her acting has always touched me.
I had a narcissistic alcoholic mother. I’m saying had, because amazingly she healed of alcoholism in her 70’s on her own, when she also stopped smoking right after her first COPD crisis. She didn’t heal of narcissism though. I had to reach my 50’s to be able to open up and throw to her face the ways she hurt me because of her narcissism (no success btw, she isn’t capable to understand and take responsibility); but I could still not talk about her alcoholism. That’s how embarrassing she was as a high-school teacher and principal for many many years, and to our family. Yeah, she was functional until she wasn’t.
It’s like a tabu subject for us.
My father is the best father in the world and he’s a hero for dealing with her and protecting me from her narcissistic abuse. Now I am the one standing up for him! We could never find explanation for her alcoholism, other than the fact that she has an addictive personality. She never suffered any major problem. She was a spoiled brat all her life, the only child of my late very loving grandparents, who also tried to protect me from her, while loving her too unconditionally…
But back to alcoholism, yeah, it can ruin people’s lives. I didn’t know this amazing fragile looking South African flower had this kind of tough life. I always admired her beauty and talent. Now I admire her even more for her courage and toughness.
Charlize in describing her father is describing mine. Living in constant fear, no hands were used but there was still terror. As an adult I wonder what my church going parents friends thought about him. He couldn’t have always hid the darkness around them.
She seems to have attained an American accent now .
I am intrigued by the strength and vulnerability- the depths Theron reveals in this interview. I rarely care to read about the movie actors/actresses but when it comes to people like her, this interview made me see deeper into her performances with a new interest. So great to see how down to earth she is too. Thank you for a great interview to the journalist as well.
I’ve always found Charlize fascinatingly beautiful, and I still do; she’s the most enchanting woman I know, aside from my incredibly ravishing, sweet, and sexy girlfriend. This interview gave me—and us—a glimpse into Charlize’s equally fascinating personality and character. Thank you so much, Charlize, for sharing this with us. It’s those difficult things in life that shape you and make you who you are, and carry you through life. I’m sure this resilience was in your blood from the start, and your mother gave you crucial guidance through her love and support. Your story really moved me, and it’s similar to mine. I emerged from chaos absolutely resilient and now lead a fulfilling, wonderful life. My childhood and youth shaped me into who I am. All the “wrong” and bad things I experienced, I already saw as lessons as a child. I was shown what was wrong, and how to do it the right way instead.
I love seeing she’s getting praise for her physical roles but I fell in love with her romantic roles. Sweet November, partner to Keanu Reevs in Devils Advocate.
Just over fifteen minutes into the video, and I just want to say that I absolutely love Charlize Theron, and as an African, I'm very proud of her. But she does say that there was a lot of nonsensical violence. I'd like to say that it was actually not nonsensical. Apartheid and racism, created such hatred between the races, and violence was definitely the result of it all. Now you can understand why the violence happened. Unfortunately, the world hasn't learned anything from the apartheid era
My favourite actress 🎉❤
Wonderful interview. What a powerful woman who overcame so many odds! (From a Zimbo raised in the best farming area of Zimbabwe)❤
AMAZING woman .. im in awe .. and I'm not impressed easily. Strong. Cool. Intelligent. .. no im not gay or feminist ..just me. Impressed.
Artists always trying to be bigger than their characters or just bigger actors they forget the whole production team that made that character and she lives like that everyday
Did she recover look at her children.Charlize Theron has two daughters, Jackson (adopted 2012) and August (adopted 2015), whom she is raising as a single mother. Theron has shared that her eldest daughter, Jackson, is transgender.
Easily one of the best interviews I've seen.