Charlize Theron’s new movie, Apex, came out on Netflix on Friday, April 24. Apex is about a woman who is being hunted by a strange man she encounters during a solo kayaking trip in Australia. It co-stars Taron Egerton and there’s a cameo from Eric Bana. Charlize’s character is a former rock climber, so she learned how to rock climb for the movie. She and Egerton did a lot of their own stunts for the movie, too. When it comes to physically demanding roles and doing stunts, Charlize has never been afraid to work hard while setting boundaries. She’s also praised the hard work of stunt performers.

Charlize was in New York City last week for Apex’s premiere, which was held on Wednesday. She was still in NYC on Friday to make an unconventional promotional appearance for the movie. Charlize and Egerton recently did an interview while climbing an indoor rock wall, but this time, she outdid herself. Charlize scaled the rock wall of a vertical Apex billboard in the middle of Times Square. You can watch the video of Charlize making the climb here and it’s below.

Charlize Theron learned to rock climb for her latest role—and, yes, she was willing to prove it. In a dramatic marketing stunt, the actress scaled a giant rock wall below the billboard of her film Apex in Times Square on April 24. The actress was spotted wearing a white tank top, billowing white pants, and a rock climbing harness as she made her way up the wall, a crowd of shocked onlookers below. When Theron reached the top of the wall, she sat down and gazed out at Times Square below her.

In Netflix’s new thriller action film, Theron plays Sasha, a climber who finds herself on the run—or rather on the climb—from a serial killer.

The actress learned how to climb for the role, taught by Beth Rodden, who scaled Yosemite’s infamous Meltdown surface.

“Hearing her story and her expertise, I thought, this is the most badass, best climber you could be with,” Theron said to Netflix of her teacher. “She’s the OG.”

As it turns out, Theron’s daughter August, 10, also joined in on the lessons, along with Rodden’s 10-year-old son. “So he was with her, and I brought my 10 year old, who’s very adventurous. She’s a bit of a daredevil,” Theron told E! News at the New York City premiere of the film, where she wore a pleated collar with an open blazer.

She added, “The two of them were amazing. In the gym, they would just go climb. Beth and I would be working on one side, and whenever I got tired, I would just look over, and the two of them were just going up these walls.”

[From InStyle]

When she got to the top, Charlize told everyone to go watch the movie so she didn’t make the climb for no reason, which made me laugh. I know she’s wearing a harness and there was probably safety netting below, but that is a wild bit of marketing. Charlize’s narration as she’s making the climb was hilarious. I love how she acknowledged just how crazy that stunt was by telling Netflix to eff off. There’s a shot in the video that looks down on her from above. She was so high up! Power to her for doing it, though. She climbed that billboard like a boss.

I also think it’s awesome that her 10-year-old daughter got into rock climbing while she was training. My 11-year-old son loves rock climbing, too. I signed him up for a week long day camp this summer. I wish that it was a hobby that we could share, but I’m terrified of heights and get nervous climbing a five-foot ladder. I am so impressed by anyone who can do those types of climbs.

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The Moment NYC Realized That Really Was Charlize Theron Climbing in Times Square 🧗‍♀️❤️‍🔥 pic.twitter.com/1OUoUC5sUy

— New York Mickey (@MickmickNYC) April 24, 2026

Photos credit: Getty Images for Netflix, Kane Skennar for Netflix, Jose Perez/Backgrid