Charlize Theron is more than a pretty face

< Prev | 1 | 2

Movie video

Does Penelope Cruz karaoke?
Dec. 4: Penelope Cruz chats with Access' Maria Menounos about working on her new film, "Nine," and how she kept doing take after take to perfect her routine. Plus, does Penelope rock out on a karaoke machine?

‘Everybody’s Fine’ N.Y. screening

Judi Dench: A perfect ‘Nine’

Cotilliard says ‘Nine’ was a ‘dream’

De Niro opens up about acting honor, new flick

Slideshow

December movies
James Cameron’s spectacle “Avatar” hits theaters, along with George Clooney, who is “Up in the Air,” and Robert Downey Jr. as “Sherlock Holmes.”

more photos

A flawed heroine
With “Aeon Flux,” Theron plays an assassin dispatched to kill a leader of a despotic government 400 years in the future, after most of humanity has been wiped out by pollution.

Not typically a fan of action movies, Theron was drawn to the project partly for the physical challenges, which were reminiscent of her ballet days. She was mainly eager to work with director Karyn Kusama, whose independent drama “Girlfight” she greatly admired.

“I sat down with Karyn and said, ‘You don’t understand. I don’t know these kind of movies,”’ Theron said. “I grew up on ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice.’ I never saw ‘Star Wars’ or anything like that, and the funny thing is, when I get dragged to go and see these films, I love them.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

“But my natural inkling isn’t really to go do those kinds of films, so I really wanted to go experience that and see what is interesting in that genre and what to do with it and come up with a female hero that wasn’t the perfect heroine. She was very flawed and very dark. I liked that a lot about her.”

Going from Oscar winner to action hero may turn as many heads as going from pretty face to overweight serial killer. But since she broke the bombshell barrier with “Monster,” Theron wants to continue broadening her Hollywood repertoire.

“I was never just interested in playing that one note,” Theron said. “I wanted to go and experience things that initially, I think, when people looked at me, they didn’t think I was capable of doing.

“And also it’s a little bit of, the more they say, ‘No, you can’t,’ the more you say, ‘No, you know what? Yes, I can.”’

< Prev | 1 | 2