The only child of Afrikaaner parents who owned both a road construction company and a farm, Theron was born and raised in Benoni, South Africa, where she experienced a thoroughly rural upbringing that included (naturally) getting up at the crack of dawn to milk the cows.

Her study of ballet landed the teenage Charlize at a school for the performing arts in Johannesburg, where she occasionally sat in on drama classes. As a result of that casual interface, the striking 16-year-old stumbled upon a modeling contest, which she entered and won. Just weeks before her wholly serendipitous introduction to the world of modeling, Theron's father had passed away, (shot by her mother in self defense, in Charlize's presence) and when an Italian fashion scout informed her that there was a modeling contract awaiting her in Milan, the unassuming South African farm girl was seized by a sudden ambition to travel and try something new.

An impoverished Theron moved to New York and then Los Angeles on the advice of her mother to try and break into the movie industry. Hollywood talent manager John Crosby discovered Charlize when she threw an impressive tantrum at a bank when a teller refused to cash an out-of-state check.

Thereafter, Theron underwent countless auditions for television commercials, but was unable to land a single gig; as she later put it to Interview magazine, "I could've sooner gotten arrested." Her perseverance eventually resulted in her 2 Days role, which was immediately followed by a chance to work with childhood crush Hanks on his directorial debut, 1996's That Thing You Do! Hanks raved over her audition, blushed when told of the bright young neophyte's youthful infatuation, and eventually signed her for a small role as an all-American everygirl who finds love with the dentist of her dreams after her drummer boyfriend starts spending too much time with his bandmates. Theron has recently starred in many major movies --check out the filmography section.