The struggle is real! In a cover story for British GQ’s May issue, Charlize Theron opens up about the plight of being a perfect 10 in Hollywood. As the South African stunner explains, beauty is overrated.
Although her good looks have been celebrated in several Dior campaigns, the 40-year-old actress — who worked as a professional model for years before landing roles — explains that being genetically blessed has often backfired on her.
“Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that’s the end of the story,” Theron tells the mag. “How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f–king, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I’ve been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.”
The mom of two has worked hard to alter her glamorous image in order to nab grittier acting jobs. She purposely gained 30 pounds and wore a prosthetic nose to play Aileen Wuornos in 2004’s Monster, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. Most recently, she shaved her signature blonde locks down to a buzz cut to portray Imperator Furiosa in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.
While her goddess-like features will shine through as Evil Queen Ravenna in the upcoming film The Huntsman: Winter’s War, a prequel to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, Theron hopes that her character’s quest to maintain her youth will highlight the unfortunate double standard in the entertainment industry.
“We live in a society where women wilt and men age like fine wine. And, for a long time, women accepted it,” she says. “We were waiting for society to change, but now we’re taking leadership. It would be a lie to say there is less worry for women as they get older than there is for men … It feels there’s this unrealistic standard of what a woman is supposed to look like when she’s over 40.”
