Charlize Theron is known for her sheer versatility, which is one of the many qualities that draws people to her (along with her low-key humor). However, Theron believes she would not have taken on the role of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003) had director Patty Jenkins not encouraged her to do so.
“I didn’t think I could do it at first,” Theron said in a June cover interview with Marie Claire. “What finally convinced me was that I’d never had before — and it makes me emotional when I think about it — that no one has ever believed in me like that. I was always the person who audition after audition and put myself on broken glass and didn’t get the part. And all of a sudden this woman is sitting in front of me, and she’s like, ‘You have to. You’re the only person who can do that.’”
October 21, 2019
Charlize Theron in Bombshell and Megyn Kelly | CREDIT: LIONSGATE MOVIES; DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY
Charlize Theron famously gained 30 pounds and wore false teeth to play real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster,” but she claims it was even harder to portray former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in the upcoming “Bombshell.”
The women who brought down Roger Ailes, the Fox News Chief accused of sexual harassment and assault, take center stage in a new film directed by Jay Roach. It features an all-star cast: Kelly is played by Theron, Ailes is played by John Lithgow, Gretchen Carlson is played by Nicole Kidman, Kayla Pospisil is played by Margot Robbie, and Kate McKinnon is a Fox News crew member. Even if you already know how the movie ends, the trailer will captivate you.
According to People
Theron said, “This was harder,” before mentioning Kelly’s fame.
She went on to say, “She’s incredibly well known. I’ve never played against anyone at that level. I’ve played against real people that nobody knows, so there was less pressure when I did that.”
She continued: “I was also just really scared because I honestly knew her so superficially. She’s contradictory… This was harder [than Monster]. You forget sometimes – we all do this – that we think we know people, that we have our preconceived notions about them. As an actor, you have to have that ability to put all that aside and do research, and actually find out about someone.”
Theron went on to say that her initial reservations about acting in Bombshell were allayed after she realized the film was running on Fox News for a year in general rather than focusing specifically on Kelly. “Once I got past that, that year in her life was incredibly interesting and felt to me like a story worth telling,” she said.
After playing Kelly, Theron expressed “empathy” for her in March.
At the SXSW premiere of her film Long Shot, Theron told Variety, “I didn’t know how complicated her situation was. I think a lot of people didn’t understand why she didn’t say anything. She was in a complicated place and as a human I have empathy for that. And I don’t think a lot of people really understood that.”
“Bombshell,” which hits theaters in December, is expected to propel Theron and her co-stars Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie into the Oscars sweepstakes.