The only child of Afrikaaner
parents who owned both a road construction
company and a farm, Theron was born and
raised in Benoni, South Africa, where she
experienced a thoroughly rural upbringing
that included (naturally) getting up at
the crack of dawn to milk the cows.
Her study of ballet landed the teenage
Charlize at a school for the performing
arts in Johannesburg, where she occasionally
sat in on drama classes. As a result of
that casual interface, the striking 16-year-old
stumbled upon a modeling contest, which
she entered and won. Just weeks before
her wholly serendipitous introduction
to the world of modeling, Theron's father
had passed away, and when an Italian fashion
scout informed her that there was a modeling
contract awaiting her in Milan, the unassuming
South African farm girl was seized by
a sudden ambition to travel and try something
new.
An impoverished Theron moved to New York
and then Los Angeles on the advice of
her mother to try and break into the movie
industry. Hollywood talent manager John
Crosby discovered Charlize when she threw
an impressive tantrum at a bank when a
teller refused to cash an out-of-state
check.
Thereafter, Theron underwent countless
auditions for television commercials,
but was unable to land a single gig; as
she later put it to Interview magazine,
"I could've sooner gotten arrested."
Her perseverance eventually resulted in
her 2 Days role, which was immediately
followed by a chance to work with childhood
crush Hanks on his directorial debut,
1996's That Thing You Do! Hanks raved
over her audition, blushed when told of
the bright young neophyte's youthful infatuation,
and eventually signed her for a small
role as an all-American everygirl who
finds love with the dentist of her dreams
after her drummer boyfriend starts spending
too much time with his bandmates. Theron
has recently starred in many major movies.
Charlize
Theron
