Charlize shares stories from her performances in Mad Max: Fury Road, Tully, and Monster in this interview about her acting career. She recounts working he early year in the industry, founding Denver and Delilah Productions, and working with Jason Reitman. This Q&A moderated by Jenelle Riley, Variety, is part of the SAG-AFTRA Conversations series, an essential resource for actors, filmmakers and students of discussions with performers, exploring the process and profession of acting.
South African born and Oscar®-winning actress Charlize Theron is one of the most celebrated actresses of our time, captivating audiences with her ability to embody a range of characters. Over the years, Charlize has appeared in numerous films including The Devil’s Advocate, The Cider House Rules, the critically acclaimed Monster for which she earned an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Independent Spirit Award, North Country for which she was nominated for an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Critics Choice Award, Hancock, Young Adult for which she garnered a Golden Globe nomination, HBO’s The Life and Death of Peter Sellers for which she received a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Emmy® nominations, Snow White and the Huntsman, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Mad Max: Fury Road, Dark Places, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Kubo and the Two Strings and The Last Face.
Theron most recently starred in the new comedy, TULLY, from Academy Award®-nominated director Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”) and Academy Award®-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”). Playing Marlo, a mother of three including a newborn, she is gifted a night nanny by her brother (Mark Duplass). Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully (Mackenzie Davis).
Theron produced and starred in the 2017 film Atomic Blonde, alongside James McAvoy. She was seen in The Fate of The Furious, the eighth installment of The Fast and The Furious franchise, alongside Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez. She also served as an executive producer of the Netflix series, Girlboss. Theron produced and starred in Gringo alongside Joel Edgerton and Amanda Seyfried.
In addition to Theron’s acting success and principal involvement with her production company Denver & Delilah, Charlize serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and founder of the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP). CTAOP’s mission is to help keep African youth safe from HIV through its support of on the ground, community-engaged organizations. CTAOP serves as a vehicle for communities to empower themselves and their youth in order to prevent the spread of HIV. Learn more about CTAOP at www.charlizeafricaoutreach.org.
0:00 - Introduction
1:03 - SAG Card
2:08 - Upbringing / Intro to Acting
8:41 - Early Auditions / Auditioning
12:20 - J.J. Harris
16:56 - The Cider House Rules (1999)
18:39 - The Italian Job (2003)
19:34 - Monster (2003)
32:22 - Denver and Delilah Productions
34:10 - North Country (2005)
37:08 - The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
38:21 - Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) / George Miller
43:44 - Tully (2018) / Jason Reitman
50:10 - Most Impactful Performance
52:50 - Space for More Powerful Female Roles
54:24 - A Love for Acting