Stars! They're Just Like Us (These Days)! Or Why I'm Very Okay With Charlize!
Are stars "just like us?" Are actors their roles? And are they consistently playing out their own psycho-dramas on screen and in public? In the case of Charlize Theron, it's a fair question to ask. Or put it this way: throughout the years, there may be a reason we haven't seen her playing any of those cute, funny-bunny leading lady roles like Jennifer Lopez or Cameron Diaz (not that there's anything wrong with that), with the exception of a few "pretty girl" roles early in her career in forgettable movies like "Trial and Error" and "Sweet November."
First coming to critical notice in "Monster," in which she obliterated her "pretty girl" looks with weight gain and no make-up in order to portray true-life serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, for which she won a Best Actress Oscar, Charlize has become Hollywood's go-to actress for kicking ass - particularly male ass - either literally, or, in the case of "Bombshell," figuratively, by portraying a true-life FOX News anchor who I won't deign to name, but who did one good thing by leading the charge against the sexually abusive Roger Ailes and his cohorts.
At face value, based solely by the roles she chooses, the message seems to be: do not fuck with Charlize or she will wipe the floor with you in rock 'em sock 'em action movies like "Atomic Blonde" and "Mad Max: Fury Road." Of course, it's always a sketchy game trying to read into any actor's roles this way, since what they select can be dependent on what their agent might suggest, what's available at any given moment and scheduling. But in Charlize's case, it tempting to do so.
Just last week, Charlize hurled a bit of a thunderbolt, offering even more details about a horrifying night from her childhood, which she'd previously spoken about in the early-2000s. She had just turned 15 when her estranged, alcoholic and violent father, Charles, stormed the home where she and her mother, Gerda, lived just outside Johannesburg, South Africa, prompting a terrified Gerda to lock herself and her daughter in her bedroom. Charles became unhinged, screaming, pounding on the door, and threatened to kill them - and then, incredibly, pulled a gun and begin shooting bullets through the door, which whizzed past Gerda and Charlize, as they were leaning against it, desperate to keep it shut.
It is simple - too simple, perhaps. Or is it? Her grim determination on screen is seemingly echoed off-screen. Various gossipeuse sites have long told us that she's not exactly a warm fuzzy to be around. And her brief dalliance with allegedly abusive, crusty meat puppet, Sean Penn, gave everyone pause - really, Charlize, what the actual fuque? - while past boyfriends, like Third Eye Blind's Stephan Jenkins, are more than a bit frosty when asked about her, as when an interviewer once enquired if any of his band's songs were inspired by her. "Um, no," he said, and pointedly left it at that. She can also be blaringly obtuse, lately with respect to her face, which she insists has remained untouched by a surgeon's scalpel. "I'm just aging!" she cried. Insert Sure Jan gif here.
Objectively, the only star benefiting consistently from social media and increased access these days is the objectively delightful Lynda Carter, but otherwise, that old "Us Magazine" headline, "Stars! They're Just Like Us!" has become alarmingly accurate - and then some. The curtain has been yanked back. Stars are slobs, boozehounds and fast-food addicts (Ben Affleck); they're messy egomaniacs who erroneously boast about their success (Amy Schumer); they're rapists finally getting called to the carpet (Danny Masterson); they're nepo babies who'll never take responsibility for themselves (Tori Spelling); they're smarmy careerists who don't care who they demolish (Justin Timberlake): and "Low Vera"-type mean girls masquerading as nice girls (Julia Roberts).
Photo Credits: Splash News, Fox Searchlight, Warner Bros.
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