Charlize Theron is a South African and American actress and producer known for The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Monster (2003), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Atomic Blonde (2017), and Bombshell (2019). Born August 7, 1975, in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa, she is 51 years old. At 5 feet 10 inches tall, Theron has won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, from three Academy Award nominations. She is not publicly in a relationship as of 2026 — she has never married and has two adopted children — and her net worth is approximately $170 million (Celebrity Net Worth, 2025).
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Charlize Theron |
| Born | August 7, 1975 (age 51) |
| Birthplace | Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (177 cm) |
| Occupation | Actress, Producer |
| Partner | Not publicly in a relationship (never married) |
| Children | 2 adopted children (Jackson, August) |
| Net Worth | Approx. $170 million (Celebrity Net Worth, 2025) |
| Nationality | South African-American |
Who Is Charlize Theron?
Charlize Theron is a South African and American actress and producer who is one of the world’s highest-paid actresses. She began her career as a ballet dancer before a knee injury ended her dancing, and she was discovered in Los Angeles by a talent agent while arguing with a bank teller over a bounced check. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her transformative performance as the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), becoming the first South African-born actor to win an Academy Award for acting.
Theron’s career spans blockbusters and independent films alike, from the action epic Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), in which she played Imperator Furiosa, to the spy thriller Atomic Blonde (2017) and the drama Bombshell (2019), in which she played the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. She became a United States citizen in 2007, retaining her South African citizenship, and in 2008 she was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace for her work supporting communities affected by HIV in southern Africa through the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which she founded in 2007.
Early Life & Background
Charlize Theron was born on August 7, 1975, in Benoni, in Gauteng province, South Africa, the only child of Gerda Maritz, a businesswoman, and Charles Theron, a road construction company owner. She grew up on the family’s farm outside Benoni and learned to speak Afrikaans before English. When she was 15, her father, who struggled with alcoholism, attacked her mother at gunpoint; her mother shot and killed him in self-defense and was not charged. Theron has spoken openly about the experience and has said it shaped her determination to help others.
As a teenager, Theron trained as a ballet dancer, winning a modeling contract at 16 and moving to Europe before settling in New York to study at the Joffrey Ballet School. A knee injury at 18 ended her dancing career, and she moved to Los Angeles to try acting, arriving with little money. Famously, she was discovered in a bank on Hollywood Boulevard while arguing with a teller over a bounced check, when the talent agent John Crosby, who was standing behind her in line, offered her his card. She made her film debut in a small role in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995) and gained wider notice in 2 Days in the Valley (1996).
Career
Theron’s breakthrough came with The Devil’s Advocate (1997), in which she played the tormented wife of Keanu Reeves‘s lawyer, opposite Al Pacino as the devil. She then starred in Mighty Joe Young (1998) and The Cider House Rules (1999), and she played the safe-cracking expert Stella Bridger in the hit heist film The Italian Job (2003), which marked her arrival as a box-office draw. Her career-defining role followed in Monster (2003), in which she gained 30 pounds and wore prosthetic teeth and makeup to play the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Theron earned a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for North Country (2005), in which she played a miner who files a landmark sexual harassment lawsuit, and she starred in the drama In the Valley of Elah (2007) and the superhero comedy Hancock (2008). She reinvented herself as an action star with Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), in which she played the Evil Queen, and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012), and she played the one-armed warrior Imperator Furiosa in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), a performance widely described as one of the great action roles in cinema history.
Theron continued to lead action and drama throughout the 2010s and 2020s. She starred as the MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton in Atomic Blonde (2017), played a struggling mother of three in Jason Reitman’s Tully (2018), and starred opposite Seth Rogen in the romantic comedy Long Shot (2019). Her performance as the Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in Bombshell (2019) earned her a third Academy Award nomination. She led the action franchise The Old Guard (2020) as the immortal warrior Andromache, returning for The Old Guard 2 (2025), and she appears as Circe in Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey (2026).
Facts About Charlize Theron
- At 15, Theron’s mother shot and killed her father in self-defense after he attacked her at gunpoint; her mother was not charged.
- She was discovered by a talent agent while arguing with a bank teller in Los Angeles over a bounced check.
- Theron was the first South African-born actor to win an Academy Award for acting, for Monster (2003).
- She became a United States citizen in 2007, while retaining her South African citizenship.
- Theron was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2008 for her work with the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Charlize Theron?
Charlize Theron was born on August 7, 1975, in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa. She is 51 years old.
How tall is Charlize Theron?
Charlize Theron is 5 feet 10 inches tall (177 cm).
Is Charlize Theron married?
Charlize Theron is not publicly in a relationship as of 2026 and has never married. She has two adopted children.
What is Charlize Theron’s net worth?
Charlize Theron’s net worth is approximately $170 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth (2025).
What is Charlize Theron’s most famous role?
Charlize Theron is best known as Aileen Wuornos in Monster, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. She also played Megyn Kelly in Bombshell.