NEWS'Traumatized' Charlize Theron Reveals Intense Details About the Night Her Mom Fatally Shot Her Dad in Self-Defense
In a recent interview, Charlize Theron discussed the night her mother, Gerda Maritz, shot and killed her father, Charles Theron.
Since that tragic day, the Monster actress has created the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which focuses on combating violence against women. When asked if the incident from her life prompted her to commit herself to the cause, Charlize said it wasn’t that simple.
Charlize Theron is famous for her role in 'Mad Max: Fury Road.'
“I would say this: It’s a simple correlation to make. But I think it’s way more complicated than having just one night of trauma in your life,” she explained.
The 48-year-old South African native noted, “With or without that, gender-based violence is so in your face in South Africa and globally. It’s hard to not be aware of these things just purely by being a woman.
In December 2019, the Mad Max: Fury Road alum shared details of what went down on that devastating night in her life.
She revealed that in June 1991, the star’s father drunkenly threatened the then-15-year-old Charlize and her mom.
Charlize Theron founded the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project.
“My father was so drunk that he shouldn’t have been able to walk when he came into the house with a gun,” she told NPR. “My mom and I were in my bedroom leaning against the door because he was trying to push through the door.”
She then recalled, “So both of us were leaning against the door from the inside to have him not be able to push through. He took a step back and just shot through the door three times.”
“None of the bullets ever hit us, which is just a miracle,” the blonde beauty added.
The situation escalated itself to the point that her mother, Gerda, shot Charles in order to protect herself and Charlize. The bullet killed the celeb’s father, however, Gerda was not charged because it was an act of self-defense.
Charlize Theron is a South African native.
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The Oscar winner explained that the patriarch was a “very sick man” and had been an “alcoholic” her whole life.
“I only knew him one way, and that was as an alcoholic,” she spilled. “It was a pretty hopeless situation. Our family was just kind of stuck in it.”
Charlize Theron is dating model Alex Dimitrijevic.
“And the day-to-day unpredictability of living with an addict is the thing that you sit with and have kind of embedded in your body for the rest of your life, more than just this one event of what happened one night,” Charlize revealed.
Since the shooting, the Bombshell star's life has completely changed as she now is an extremely accomplished actress as well as a philanthropist.
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Most recently, the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project co-launched the #TogetherForHer initiative in South Africa to combat pandemic-era violence worldwide.
Town & Country Magazine interviewed Theron.
