Charlize Theron Once Shared That Winning an Oscar Actually Made Her Career More Complicated
The Academy Awards granted Charlize Theron an Oscar for Best Actress thanks to her performance in the film Monster.
But although winning an Oscar might have been a highlight for her career, it also changed Theron’s approach to movies.
Charlize Theron once felt her ‘Monster’ role was the only time her performances were given honest feedback
Theron earned an Academy Award for Best Actress by playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster. The film, based on real-life events, saw Theron immerse herself in the role to the point of changing her physical appearance to resemble Wuornos’.
Her performance at the time was acclaimed by many, which meant a lot to Theron. It marked the first time in her career where she felt she was getting honest feedback from her peers.
“I think we do live in a world where it gets a little—where it gets a little bit—you know, you get this a lot, ‘It’s great. It’s great. It’s great.’ It’s like a song that kind of goes through your head,” Theron once told About Film. “And then finally to have people come up and go, ‘I’m going to tell you straight, I didn’t think you had this in you’—it was really nice to know. You really feel that people are honestly actually giving you a feedback. It’s not, ‘It’s great. It’s great.'”
She also felt the role helped others see her as more than a pretty face.
“Hopefully after this that won’t be my feedback anymore,” she said.
Charlize Theron felt winning an Oscar made things more complicated in her career
As appreciative as Theron was towards her Oscar, she realized that didn’t mean her profession would be any easier. After the initial feeling of winning an Oscar wore off, the reality was that not much had changed regarding Theron’s daily routine.
“I mean, I try not to think about what it means to win an Oscar other than it being a great honor and something I’m very proud of,” Theron once told Empire. “What I mean is that I’m not jaded about the fact when you’re given something like that by your peers it’s a great compliment. But you wake up the next morning and you have to do the dishes or pick up your dog’s s***. Life goes on.”
Instead, Theron felt that winning an Oscar could potentially make someone’s acting career more difficult. At least if they preferred to navigate around movies the same way that Theron did.
“If you think that because you’ve won an Oscar that you can then just sit back and let things happen, that’s not the case. If anything, I think it makes things more complicated. My favorite way to work is under the radar. I like people to not know what I’m doing until it’s done and it can just hit. That’s the ideal way to work for me. You can’t really do that just after you’ve won an Oscar,” she explained.
Has Charlize Theron been nominated for an Oscar since ‘Monster’?
Monster may have been the first time Theron was nominated for an Academy Award, but it wasn’t her last. According to IMDb, she received two more Best Actress Oscar nominations for the 2005 feature North Country and the 2019 movie Bombshell. However, since Monster, she hasn’t been able to snag another Best Actress win just yet.
