Charlize Theron on gaining weight: ‘The sugar put me in a massive depression’

U.S President Donald Trump and Polish President Andrzej Duda attend a press conference in Warsaw, Poland

Of all the films coming out this summer, I really want to see Atomic Blonde. It looks great, and after reading Charlize Theron’s Variety interview, I want to see it in theaters because I want to support her passion project. Charlize is leaning in to the fact that she’s one of the few women in Hollywood who can get cast in the lead of an action-drama. She spent a long time putting together Atomic Blonde, and nothing was handed to her – she had to fight to get the financing and support for this film, and hopefully it will be another Wonder Woman-esque tale of the box office reflecting a real desire to see women in these kinds of roles, kicking ass and taking names. You can read the full Variety piece here. Some highlights:

Her injuries on Atomic Blonde: She clenched down so hard on her jaw she cracked two teeth while getting in shape to throw burly men over her shoulders. “It happened the first month of training. I had severe tooth pain, which I never had in my entire life… Having to cut one of the teeth out and root canals. It was tough. You want to be in your best fighting shape, and it’s hard. I had the removal and I had to put a donor bone in there to heal until I came back, and then I had another surgery to put a metal screw in there.”

She’s been trying to become a female action hero for a while: “I got offered a lot of stuff in action movies that was either the girl behind the computer or the wife… When ‘Aeon Flux’ came to me, I thought that could be something. I was never completely sold on the entire concept, but I really loved [director] Karyn Kusama’s movie [‘Girlfight’]. So I threw myself into that with the belief that she’s a great filmmaker. And then we f—ed it all up. I just don’t think we really knew how to execute it. And it’s disappointing, but it happens. I’ve been in this business long enough to know that you cannot get it right every time. I might have gotten this right because of that.”

Her character in Atomic Blonde is a mystery: “You know nothing about this woman,” says Theron, who wanted to avoid contrivances like having her grieve for a dead husband. “It’s so rare that a female gets that in a movie. A lot of critics had issue with that — that’s such old-school thinking. You don’t need to be emotionally manipulated to feel something for someone.”

Her character gets sexually involved with a woman: “I just loved it. For so many reasons: My frustration of how that community is represented in cinema, or lack thereof. And also, it made perfect sense. It just suited her. It just felt there was a way through that relationship and the fact that it was a same-sex relationship to show a woman not having to fall in love, which is one of those female tropes. ‘It’s a woman; she better fall in love — otherwise, she’s a whore!’”

Hollywood has a caveman mentality: “I am ashamed that I’m part of an industry that has never allowed a woman to work with a budget higher than what the budget has been on ‘Wonder Woman.’ That’s so f—ing caveman-like. I am always hoping that this is the movie that’s going to change it and keep it for us.”

She did the Women’s March: “I went there because I’m a woman. I went there because I have kids,” she says, referring to her two children. A photo from the event went viral because it showed Theron in tears. “It’s so weird,” she says, explaining what happened. “I made eye contact with a man” — she starts to cry, thinking back to that day — “I think it just caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting to see a man so emotionally charged in that march. I just felt like he had kids, or maybe little girls. It touched me, as you can tell,” she says, wiping away the tears running down her cheeks.

Gaining weight again for her role in Tully: “It was brutal in every sense. This time around, I really felt it in my health. The sugar put me in a massive depression. I was sick. I couldn’t lose the weight. I called my doctor and I said, ‘I think I’m dying!’ And he’s like, ‘No, you’re 41. Calm down.’”

She was watching James Comey hearing during the interview. “This is a very big thing that’s happening in our country right now,” she says. “I’m concerned about all of that stuff.” Does she think she’ll see a female president in her lifetime? She sighs. “I mean, we would literally be the last country to come to that party,” Theron says. “That’s not even special anymore! Look at the world. The world is like, ‘You guys are seriously still having this conversation?’ ”

[From Variety]

She comes across really well throughout this piece. I often think that Charlize is the personification of Icy Bitch Realness, but I think her real personality is a combination of things. One, she probably is pretty icy to most people. Two, she’s focused on her own sh-t and she’s not here to be “liked” or the girl next door. Three, she actually is pretty badass in real life. I still want to know what went down between Charlize and Sean Penn that caused her to ghost him so hard.

70th Annual Cannes Film Festival - 70th Anniversary Gala

Photos courtesy of WENN, cover courtesy of Variety.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

21 Responses to “Charlize Theron on gaining weight: ‘The sugar put me in a massive depression’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Silver Unicorn says:

    I might see it but the woman-woman relationship actually rubbed me off the wrong way because badass/muscular woman=lesbian (I’ve been told countless times my body looks like a man’s, then I must be a lesbian…).
    Just would like that in some roles sexual orientation was left alone, replacing a stereotyped trope with another is bad IMO

    I would have preferred no relationships at all as female characters should exist on screen regardless of being connected to others, as it is sometimes for their male counterparts.

    • Karen says:

      And its the same troupe… spy uses women up and throws them away (usually they end up dead), its not original. So +1 point for relationship divesity in film, -1 point for adding a female character as as object of lust and murder.

    • Shijel says:

      Never mind. Let’s just say my bisexual ass is glad to see f/f action on the screen, and I don’t mind it being no strings attached at all. Lesbians and bisexual women are still people, and they have relationships that aren’t devoted, wholesome and soft.

    • detritus says:

      I see what you mean Silver, but I think in this case I agree with Shijel. I’ll have to see the movie to really make a judgement in the end though.

      I think this goes back to the idea that even missteps in representation are movements towards people understanding. I’m cool with this. Gimme ladies getting down, where it isn’t a romeo and juliet them against the world depressive thing. Treating in nonchalantly is kind of nice?

  2. MissAmanda says:

    Two, she’s focused on her own sh-t and she’s not here to be “liked” …”

    I LOVE that sentiment. I need to remember that it’s OK (hell, even commendable) to be more like Charlize in my own life and not beat myself up over not falling over forwards and backwards trying to make everyone around me think ‘oh, i LIKE her’…all the time!

  3. Jess says:

    I can’t wait to see this movie (and Girl Trip! That looks hysterical and people need to see that at the theater!). And the more I read about Charlize, the more I like and respect her.

  4. Sonia says:

    I saw an advance screening of atomic blonde. It was alright, but not as good as I was hoping for. All the stuff that takes place in between the few and far between fight scenes were boring and nonsensical.

    • Dee Kay says:

      Oh I’m sad you thought it was just okay. Atomic Blonde is one of the movies I’ve really been looking forward to this year, I have the opening date in my calendar and everything!!

      I will go see it at the cinema to support women-driven and women-centered action movies, which I love as a genre (and there are so few — thank goodness for stuff on TV like The Americans and even that drivel Quantico). But much more than I want to see Atomic Blonde, I want to see another George Miller-directed Furiosa movie!!!!!

      • CityGirl says:

        Dee Kay, I’m with you – I want this movie (and Girl Trip!) to kick butt at the Box Office!!! I want to support women and women of color in Hollywood. We are such a celebrity driven country – once people start seeing it frequently on the big screens, on television, and on award shows, it becomes part of country’s everyday world. (If that makes sense)

      • Sonia says:

        It’s still worth watching. It’s very stylish and the soundtrack is great. Just wouldn’t say it’s an objectively great movie lol

      • Dee Kay says:

        @CityGirl: Totally — box office is the way to advance women in film and I will do my part!

        @Sonia: Oh good, I can live with that. I wasn’t expecting it to be great. Based on your review, I think I’ll get pretty much what I expected, which is a bunch of nonsense action fun with a female heroine :).

    • CityGirl says:

      Sonia – NNNNOOOOOOOOO don’t say that

  5. Ari says:

    She was great in hancock too! she kicked the crap outta her role!

  6. Dem says:

    I dont think shes icy. I get a very homegirl vibe from hearing costars talk about her. I think she is crazy fun, cusses like a sailor and isnt afraid to say what she wants. Remember that mic incident where she and Emily Blunt are just kicking it before an interview not knowing they are on and Charlize jokes “never trust anything that comes out of Blanchett”. (And yes it was a joke, demeanor gives it away). She just seems like fun.

  7. L says:

    This movie will be nowhere near WW’s success. I honestly think it’ll end up being disappointing at the box office. I love Theron and I want female driven films to be successful af but I just don’t see it happening for this one.

  8. Elisa the I. says:

    Can’t wait for atomic blonde – the trailer I recently saw at the movies looked awesome!

  9. Shannon says:

    Cool. But I’d love to see a movie where relationships aren’t a thing for the woman at all. I’m 41, been married twice and live in rural Kentucky; I finally decided to just focus on my sons and my job and, of course, be there for my friends. But I constantly feel judged by my romantic status (or lack thereof, which is by choice). That being said, I may still give it a chance. Sounds like she put a lot into it and I’d like to support that.

    • CynicalAnn says:

      I’m 50, and if something god forbid happened to dh, I don’t think I’d bother.

  10. Anna says:

    Can’t stand her, never have. She is very condescending in the way she speaks (at least in interviews) as if she is too fancy and other people just don’t get it. Seriously, get a grip, girl. She just reminds me of colonials from my days in Africa who were just way too into themselves and really narcissistic but believe they’re somehow doing everyone else a favor by deigning to speak. Yawn.

  11. Jennie Hix says:

    Something about this movie comes off as desperate. After the preview, I leaned over to my bf and asked, “so…is there a lesbian sex scene in the movie or…?” Because it was clear that was the main selling point in the trailer.

  12. Ana says:

    From what I’ve seen of Charlize, she’s a Jennifer Lawrence type. In the sense she’s very loud, tells crude jokes, swears a lot, tells stories that maker her seem “relatable” or “unladylike”, depending on from what point of view you want to look at them.

    As for Sean Penn… I’m surprised anyone can put up with that guy, but considering she had an abusive father that ended up being shot by her mom, my money is on that angle.