Charlize Theron covers the June issue of Elle UK. The release of Mad Max: Fury Road is almost upon us. I think the press tour has been pretty interesting so far – Charlize and Tom Hardy have been doing their own things, doing separate interviews and both have spoken candidly about how they actually did fight on-set. It’s sort of refreshing to hear two adult actors talk about this stuff like actual adults. Like, “Yeah, we fought but I respect her” and “Yes, we didn’t always see eye to eye but we’re both professionals.” Charlize’s character in the film is already being called a feminist action hero, and in real life, Charlize is waving the feminist flag too. Some highlights from her Elle UK interview:
Asking for & getting equal pay for ‘Snow White’ sequel: ‘I have to give them credit because once I asked, they said yes. They did not fight it. And maybe that’s the message: That we just need to put our foot down. This is a good time for us to bring this to a place of fairness, and girls need to know that being a feminist is a good thing. It doesn’t mean that you hate men. It means equal rights. If you’re doing the same job, you should be compensated and treated in the same way.’
The pay disparity on ‘American Hustle’: ‘When I thought about the temperature out there – with finding out what Jennifer and Amy were being paid on a set with guy actors who are their counterparts… They’re just as good as any of the guys on there. Yeah, that p*ssed me off!’
Being objectified for her role in 2 Days In The Valley: ‘Someone thought it was a good idea to market almost the entire movie on me; objectifying me a little bit. I got a lot of attention from it, but the problem was that, afterwards, it was like, “We want you to do that again. Can you just do that? And so I didn’t work for almost two years.”’
Working with Sean Penn on ‘The Last Face’: ‘Putting aside that he’s my partner, he’s the love of my life; for the first time, I felt that my work was really bleeding into my life and that made it hard. There were moments where I was incredibly unfair to him. And moments where I felt like… he was incredibly unfair to me. But it makes you realise that no matter how complicated it gets, the priority is the relationship.’
Charlize did demand equal pay for the sequel to Snow White & the Huntsman and she did it right after the Sony Hack leak. What was weird about that story wasn’t that Charlize had the stones to ask for more money (good for her), it was that the studio’s default was to pay Chris Hemsworth MORE than Charlize for no real reason. Like, Chris Hemsworth can only carry a movie if he’s got a big hammer. Charlize is an Oscar-winning actress who has already carried a wide variety of films. Why wasn’t she already being paid MORE than Hemsworth, not just the same amount?
As for the rest of it… I believe Charlize is a feminist and I believe she fights for women everywhere and for her own interests. I also think that she sort of kneecaps her own feminist arguments by referring to Sean Penn as “the love of my life.”
Elle UK covers courtesy of Bjarne Jonasson/ELLE.
“girls need to know that being a feminist is a good thing. It doesn’t mean that you hate men”
Preach Charlize!
Yup! It’s sad that girls don’t understand that.
Yeah it cannot be said often enough.
Yes. Just one addition to her statement:
“girls AND BOYS need to know that being a feminist is a good thing”
Bingo!
Yes!
Men who think feminism is about hating them are narcissists.
Good way to rule out dbags, though. Plus, I figure men who have a problem with feminists must be dull in bed.
It also doesn’t mean that you make apologies for serial abusers with major anger issues and call them the “love of your life.” Get your own house in order first, Charlize.
You can be a feminist professionally and still have a mess of a personal life. She is not the bad guy here. He is. Abusers are manipulative and dangerous. I won’t fault her for falling in love with the wrong guy. Leaving is often just as dangerous as staying.
Totally off topic…But my little 3 year old niece received a shirt that said, “‘Though she be but little, she is fierce!'”.
After my sister explained to her what “fierce” meant, my tiny niece spent the rest of the day repeating the phrase, sometimes whispering it to herself like she had a big secret. I love that my niece likes the idea of being a fierce female!
Very cute 🙂
I’m not a native speaker, so could some of you please explain to me what fierce means? It’s been thrown around often, but I never got the true meaning, because this is what I get when I google it
“having or displaying a violent or ferocious aggressiveness”
It can be used that way, like a bear could be fierce. But it can also mean bold, courageous, powerful. My sister explained it to her daughter by saying the lead character in Brave, Merida, is fierce.
Here are some definitions from the urban dictionary:
*”being bold, displaying chutzpah, especially relating to fashion, clothes, hair or makeup. ”
*”the combination of a positive mental spirit, bold words and unapologetic actions used collectively. “
Thank you so much, Tiffany 😉
As another non-native English speaker, the word “chutzpah” confuses me even more. It doesn’t even sound english.
Too cute, Tiffany. 🙂
“chutzpah” (sounds like “huts-spa”), is a Yiddish/Hebrew word, but is used by many people. It is like sass, audacity, personal confidence, having a lot of “balls”, etc.
But what films has Charlize “carried?” I don’t think she’s ever opened anything successfully in her entire career.
+1
+2. Yep, she doesn’t have huge box office clout.
She was incredible in Monster. Plus I think she’s complicated and visually stunning.
Aside from her connection to Sean Penn, I’ve always liked Charlize. This interview makes me love her even more.
why can’t a feminist have a “love of my life”?
Maybe it’s a comment on who she says is the love of her life… Not that she has one.
I am a feminist and I have a love of my life. He is the only one for me and has never beaten the crap out of a woman (or man) unlike Sean Penn.
They can. It’s just an unfortunate combination when said love is a known violent physical and mental abuser of women.
I think the point was that it was Sean Penn whom she was referring to, a man that has a history of being unkind (to put it mildly) towards women.
I got what she said about the relationship being the priority. That has really helped my BF and I when things get rough, putting our own interests aside and focusing on the relationship.
That being said, if I had to work with him I fully admit that I would likely kill him.
Fill me in here, did Sean Penn abuse another woman besides Madonna?
yes, I disagree with that sentence also, but I don’t think the point was on “love of my life”, but on WHO is the “love of her life” (since Sean Penn is/was known to be a douche-bag).
However, I think that even someone who considers herself a feminist might make mistakes in who she chooses to date…
Good for her for actually giving a positive message on feminism.
firts of all as other said its Sean Penn.
second: being a feminist means empowerment of women. women are not empowered by the Disney fairy tale. far too many women still strive for the “love of my life” instead of striving for CEO for life.
if you make your relationships a priority your career will suffer and how does that help women? women already take most of the time off and careers suffer a lot after having a child. young women mostly earn more than their male counterparts but that changes as soon as women enter serious relastionships and get children. thats also partly the reason for the wage gap and i thought we wanted to get rid of that?
the happiest and healthiest people are married men and single women. marriage and other long term relationships are far more negative for women than for men, financially, emotionally and often sexually as women get bored more easily with monogamy.
a lot of married women also still face poverty when hitting retirement age.
independence and a successful career dont align with “love of my life” if that love isnt your job.
I think I’d add that empowering women also means that they have the right to choose. If they want to find the love of their lives and stay at home raising babies, a feminist should support them in their choice. My sister is a stay at home mom, and she’s perfectly content in that role. Just as we need teachers and nurses, not everyone strives to be a CEO.
“Young women mostly earn more than their male counterparts but that changes as soon as women enter serious relastionships and get children.”
I don’t think the solution here is- ‘so don’t get married/have children’, but rather to address why that is, and how we can fix it.
Finding love does not have to be the biggest priority to have a love of my life. Being in love doesn’t have to undermine women’s dream of being CEOs. Women should stop sacrificing more than men do, not stop falling in love. What you point out sadly is true, but i don’t think it is because some women refer their husbands or boyfriends as love of their lives. Prioritising their relationship doesn’t make women unhappy, being only ones to do it does.
Viv, i often hear about those choices. why is that ONLY mentioned when its about women doing things that are expect of them in a patriarchal society?
Feminism makes love possible. If you have to marry the first good financial provider who comes along, doesn’t leave you much time for making the rounds Tinder till love knocks you on your ass.
Please stop making sweeping comments about all women and what makes them happy. I happen to know lots of career women who made the choice to leave and have a family, who want to leave their careers to have families, who would want to work from home or have part time work to have families, or are already stay at home wives who happen to be very happy. No life is easy, no matter what you choose, but stop assuming that married women with kids must be unhappy or are harmful to women. That is ridiculous.
Finally, someone who understands feminism. And yet, she chooses to have a relationship with Sean Penn? I don’t get it.
Being a feminist does not equal being sensible or empathetic, sadly. She probably has little sympathy for his former lovers, and does not realize it could happen to her as well. Because, true love!
She’s clearly a feminist, as she believes in equality (and acts on it)- she’s just one that has made some bad choices.
but where do you take that from? that she asked for more money for herself? that she not says “i think the actresses in American Hustle should get less”? no one would have said otherwise publicly.
i think we really need to get away from this “do you believe in equality? then you are a feminist” Actions are what counts. the rest is lipservice or trying to look good.
to take an extreme example to show how silly that definition of feminism is: what about Roman Polanski? i can totally see him wanting equal rights for women, why not? why would he be against that? ask him, im sure he will tell you its wrong that women get paid less and i would even believe him. i still dont want him in my camp though. if you violate women or are in close relationships with people who do you are not a feminist even if you say you believe in equality!
I take it from her saying she believes in equal rights and equal pay, and identifying herself as a feminist.
Of course it’s complicated and can be taken to extremes, but equality is the core of the issue and that’s what she is speaking in favor of. I don’t think it’s anyone else’s place to kick her out of the club because we disagree with some of her choices. Certainly we can, and should, point out and discuss the problems with choosing a partner like Penn, but I don’t see it as voiding her wanting equal salary and career opportunities as her male colleagues.
“i think we really need to get away from this “do you believe in equality? then you are a feminist”” I disagree. I think the word has gotten so convoluted and twisted by many people, that it’s good to start simply with equality. So many young women say they are not feminists or that we don’t need feminism anymore, and are clueless as to what that actually means.
also….all this feminist talk, yet she throws the young actress who made the film Snow White and the HuntsmanHuntsman a huge global hit under the bus, while she and the studio delude themselves into thinking she and hemsworth can put butts in seats…riiiiiiight. This should be fun to watch..
You can be a feminist & have a relationship with someone who is abusive. No on is immune to it. It’possible she hasn’t seen that side of Sean Penn or she rationalizes it or is not aware of it. It does happen.
if you are the victim and trapped, then yes you can but knowingly entering a relationship like this is anti feminist.
Anti feminist? What? You keep making these addendums about why she can’t be a feminist. Isn’t that anti feminist?
First time in a long time that I’ve agreed with anything Charlize has said. Her statements are on point. Now if only we could get her away from Penn!
It is hard to take advice from someone who dates Sean Penn.
It was ridiculous that Hemsworth was going to be paid more. As you say, without the hammer he is NOT a movie star. He’s been smart with his genre picks but Blackhat proved that Theron was more than justified.
Want to know how bad Blackhat did? $18 million worldwide. Worldwide! For comparison that Jack Ryan movie with Chris Pine (lower budget, also January opening) that underperformed? $135 million.
Get that money Charlize!
I can’t believe they thought to pay him more either, especially considering she was by far the best and most interesting part of the first movie, and his role could have been done by anyone.
Besides his shoddy accent, I thought he was the heart of the film and Charlize’s acting was atrocious. But still, she is the more established name at the end of the day.
He gets paid and so do his biceps.
girls need to know that you should never date a man who beat up his ex wife with a baseball bat. a lesson some grown women seem to need to learn, too.
Thanks for saying what I was thinking. Hoping Charlize doesn’t learn this lesson the hard way and that her son doesn’t have to witness what she witnessed growing up.
He beat someone up with a baseball bat?!? Isn’t that attempted murder, one blow with a bat to the head would do it I would think. Jeez what a dirtbag.
Yep, he tied a famous singer to a chair with a lamp cable, forced her to perform sex acts/raped her, beat her head with a baseball bat and after 8 hours she managed to escape and call for help from her car phone.
And yet in a documentary of her life this singer called him the love of her life. Sigh…
What’s wrong with (some) women?
Funny that this so called feminist is calling the “love of my life” a well know domestic abuser whom actually never apologize for it and was never punished for it (and that’s madonna’s fault, another so called “feminist”)
Funny also that the movie they did together was a project Robin Wright held close to her heart for years and her husband at the moment, Penn, never got involved enough to help her made the movie. Now that they’re divorced he bought the rights and is directing his new girlfriend in the role that was wrote specifically for Robin (Erin Dignam the screenwriter is Robin Wright’s longtime friend). He did it just to get back at Robin and hurt her, again, and Charlize knowing this is showing the lack of girl code and being a huge narcissistic bitch. Yeah…feminist…STFO
How is Robin Wright any different than Charlize? Wright married the man AND had children with him just a few years after he beat the sh*t out of Madonna.
As FingerBinger has pointed out so many times, it’s very odd that Wright gets a free pass and is borderline sainted around here, but Theron is consistently maligned for loving this man.
Exactly, Kitten.
I question any woman who wants to get involved with Sean Penn, given his history with his exes. But Charlize chooses to date him and that’s on her. Their dating doesn’t affect my life.
Also, as you pointed out, Robin married Sean and had two children by him. Why should she get a pass?
No that film wasn’t specifically written for Robin Wright. Isabelle Adjani and Jeremy Irons were attached to that film at one point. Javier Bardem has been attached to it for years.
One reason women are paid less than men for the same work is that women tend to not ask for more money. Good for her, and it’s interesting that the studio agreed without fuss.
Why can’t she love Sean Penn and still hold on to her feminsim? People can love who they want and still be who they truly are. Judging his past isn’t her choice. She says she loves him and I’m happy for her and anyone in love. I also believe people have a great capacity to change as they grow older and he’s shown to be a good humanitarian with his work in Haiti.
because its a contradiction.
i dont see her as a feminist. dating Sean Penn says otherwise and asking for more money herself is not necessarily based on feminist thought.
@Sarah I agree with your statement as well, she’s getting a lot of heat for her relationship w/ Penn and who knows if the man has changed, after all, wasn’t her own mother in a violent relationship and shot the man in self defense? You will think someone like her would know what she’s getting into. Robin Wright was with Penn for a long time, Madonna was not in comparison. I just think it is easier to pick on people like Madge and Charlize because they are disliked and put down a lot on the internet and they see Robin as a survivor yet all of them made the same choice to be with this man. Rant! Lol
“I just think it is easier to pick on people like Madge and Charlize because they are disliked and put down a lot on the internet and they see Robin as a survivor yet all of them made the same choice to be with this man. Rant! Lol”
+ 1,000
Thank you for saying this.
Fully agree.
I would really like to believe Sean Penn has changed and grown. Maybe he’s gone to therapy ? Who knows. We aren’t privy to everything in their lives.
However I suspect he probably hasn’t changed based on some of his passive aggressive digs at Robin Wright in a recent interview. It just made me think the guy hasn’t evolved and done the type of work he would need to. The reason I think the digs are relevant is because he seemed to be blaming Robin and angry at her for the demise of their marriage. That just sounded like abuser mentality: Deflecting responsibility on to others.
But you know, at the end of the day Charlize is a grown ass woman and has the right to enter a relationship with whoever she wants. Maybe she’s hopeful. Maybe he’s conned her. Regardless, I don’t judge her for choosing him. She has the right to make her own choices whether we personally agree with them or not. To me at least, that is feminist.
This is the most fair and reasonable comment I’ve ever read on a Theron/Penn post.
Well done.
Well said, Angie.
Girls need to know that not dating a hot-head doucebag with a violent history is a good thing.
Also, is Charlize telling us she’s not down with being objectified? Because I’ve seen her Dior commercials.
I’m not saying you can’t be a feminist and not want to be objectified and do seductive Dior commercials at the same time. I’m saying I’d prefer if these women who absolutely knowingly objectify themselves – and can and do pick and choose when and how to do so – need to quit spouting bs. Charlize (and plenty of others) picks and chooses when and how she’ll be objectified and that’s fine. But don’t give me this crap that you didn’t work for 2 years in a protest of sorts b/c you refuse to be objectified.
And, to another poster’s point that people can change re: Penn, sure, that’s true. But, in my book, beating the hell out of a woman is a one and done kind of thing. If the dude’s changed (and who knows if he has) and doesn’t do it anymore, great. But the fact that he did, ever, would be a dealbreaker for me.
Great choice of words, you can tell she understands what feminism is about. Despite this, and her good acting, I don’t like her.
I think it’s interesting to say the least that Charlize is dating Sean Penn and that as a child, she watched her mother shoot and kill her father with a shotgun after enduring years of abuse. Just because she is dating a notorious abuser doesn’t mean she can’t identify as feminist. The two are not mutually exclusive, but because of her childhood trauma, I find it very complex. It’s often said little girls date their “fathers” in a sense. I think there is something deeper as to why Sean is the “love of her life”
Boys need to know it too.
Says the woman in a relationship with a racist abuser.
Am glad to see her defend feminism, although I can’t imagine what she sees in Penn. She is one of the few actresses that can actually model like a super model.
I can understand BCoop and Bale getting higher paychecks than Amy and Jen but Renner? Yuck!
…says the woman whose man beat, emotionally abused, and cheated on his ex-wives. Sean Penn must either have a magic dick, or he’s a complete genius at manipulating women.
They ALL get paid too much! these actresses and actors make MILLIONS of dollars, and sometimes the movies don’t even make any money!!! How about yes, men and women get paid the same BUT they get paid the salary of a working school teacher instead of a millionaire. Theyre making movies for crying out loud, not shaping our communities! OVERPAID
Movie industry is private business, so you simple suggest that all the money should go to the Hollywood moguls and producers. And nowadays, unfortunately, they have more influence on young generation than their teachers.
Teachers should definetly get paid more..obama has done nothing for teachers..like me! 🙂
Meh. Feminists are allowed to have ‘loves of our lives’.
The idea that we have to do away with all notions of romance, sentimentality, so-called ~frivolity is a product of the patriarchy. As if by being those things = feminine, and feminine = inferior. Its that last part thats the huge leap of logic. I can have a love of my life that I prioritize if I so choose. I can listen to taylor swift and have an important opinion on politics. I can be a woman, display characteristics that are associated with women, and still be treated equally. rather than that being used as proof that Im inferior in some way, by way of being different than ‘masculine’, I celebrate it as one part of my very dynamic character.
If she believes Sean has changed and he treats her well, Im not judging. I wouldnt date the guy for a plethora of reasons, but she has the right to love who she loves. Im not going to lose respect for her as a woman because of the man she chooses to be with. If he shows his true colours eventually, I wont blame her or say ‘I told you so’. I dont see why anyone would.. I hope that never happens, and that he really has changed and they have found peace and love together. Good for them if they have, its a good thing if he is no longer a victimizer, because it means no woman is another victim. And I just dont see her as a victim. I sincerely hope they are happy.