Charlize Theron

"I've always been very proud to be a South African and I've always been very honest to people about that. And whatever I can do in my power I promise you I will do. I don't think it's too much pressure. I think it's our duty as citizens of this country. You don't have to win an Oscar to do something good for your country. We all can do that. If I can be an encouragement for that I'll be glad to be that."

Charlize Theron is one of those rare individuals who don’t care what she looks like. Theron is known for being an actress that is willing to cross all lines, forsaking her appearance in order to get the work done. With her ability to capture a plethora of characters, she relentlessly demands the audience’s full attention as soon as she appears on screen. This South African native is continuously being praised and admired for her inspiring and powerful performances.She is best known for her roles in Monster,North Country and The Road.

The South African actress and former fashion model was born and raised in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg-area, South Africa. At 16, she won a modeling competition to go to Milan and work on the catwalks and at 18, she won a scholarship to study ballet at the Joffrey School in New York. She turned to acting only because she injured both knees.

Her mother bought her one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 1994 and Charlize started visiting all of the agents on Hollywood Boulevard but without any luck. She went to the bank to cash a check for $500 she'd got from her mother and became furious when she learned that the bank could not cash her check because it was an out-state check. She made a scene and a talent agent gave her his card, and subsequently introduced her to some casting agents and also an acting school. Her first role was as a young mother in a park in a B-film in 1995, but it was a non-speaking role with three seconds of screen time.

After appearing in a few notable films, Theron starred as the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003). Film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema". For this role, Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 76th Academy Awards in February 2004, as well as the SAG Award and the Golden Globe Award. She is the first South-African woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress. The Oscar win pushed her to The Hollywood Reporter's 2006 list of highest-paid actresses in Hollywood; earning $10,000,000 for both her subsequent films, North Country and Æon Flux, she ranked seventh, behind Halle Berry, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Renée Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.

After winning her Oscar, she returned to great celebrations in her native South Africa, and she even met former South African President Nelson Mandela. When he praised her for putting their country on the map and gave her a hug, Theron broke into tears (she was guest of honor at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg on March 11th 2004).

In 2008, Theron was named the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Woman of the Year. That year she also starred with Will Smith in Hancock, a film that grossed $227.9M in the U.S.A. and $396.4M internationally, and in late 2008 she was asked to be a UN Messenger of Peace by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Theron is involved in women's rights organizations, marched for abortion rights, a supporter of animal rights and active member of PETA. She appeared in a PETA ad for their anti-fur campaign. She is also an active supporter of Democracy Now! and Link TV. She is a supporter of same-sex marriage and attended a march in Fresno, California on 30 May 2009.

In July 2009, it was announced that Charlize Theron's Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) would form a coalition with LAFC Soccer Club to give soccer fields to rural areas in South Africa. LAFC Chelsea, one of the United State’s most successful and prominent youth soccer clubs, made a three-year commitment to help build a community-wide soccer programme for the schools in the Umkhanyakude District. This help includes uniforms, cleats, balls and equipment, along with professional training for local coaches, referees and administrators. The soccer league training will also include life-saving health education administered through a CTAOP-funded mobile health program.