One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades , including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster , for which she won the Silver Bear and Academy Award for Best Actress , becoming the first South African to win an acting Oscar.
She received another Academy Award nomination for playing a sexually abused woman seeking justice in the drama North Country She received praise for playing troubled women in Jason Reitman 's comedy-dramas Young Adult and Tully , and for portraying Megyn Kelly in the biographical drama Bombshell she received her third Academy Award nomination. Since the early s, Theron has ventured into film production with her company Denver and Delilah Productions.
She has produced numerous films, many in which she had a starring role, including The Burning Plain , Dark Places , and Long Shot Theron became an American citizen in , while retaining her South African citizenship. Her French forebears were early Huguenots in South Africa. She grew up on her parents' farm in Benoni, near Johannesburg. Theron attended Putfontein Primary School Laerskool Putfontein , [ 11 ] a period during which she has said she was not "fitting in".
Theron's permanent teeth did not grow until she was roughly ten years old. I was usually barefoot in the dirt: no Game Boys , no computers, and we had sanctions, so there were no concerts. This meant you had to entertain yourself. Although she saw herself as a dancer, [ 21 ] Theron won a one-year modelling contract at age 16 [ 10 ] at a local competition in Salerno , Italy [ 21 ] [ 22 ] and moved with her mother to Milan , Italy. I went to New York for three days to model, and then I spent a winter in New York in a friend's windowless basement apartment.
I was broke, I was taking class at the Joffrey Ballet, and my knees gave out. I realized I couldn't dance anymore, and I went into a major depression. My mom came over from South Africa and said, "Either you figure out what to do next or you come home, because you can sulk in South Africa". In , [ 26 ] Theron flew to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket her mother bought for her; she intended to work in the film industry.
