STAR POWER CHARLIZE THERON

We talk to the Hollywood A-lister about longevity in an industry obsessed with the next big thing, the women who know their own power, and the rewards of being a mother

- SALLY HUNWICK

It’s 5.50am on a Tuesday and I’m sitting in front of my laptop, ready to talk to Charlize Theron. In terms of Hollywood A-listers, Theron is at the top of her game so I want everything to be perfect for the 6am call.

At exactly 5.59am two things happen. The first: one of Theron’s people informs me that “Charlize needs five minutes” (obviously totally fine). The second: my three-year-old son wakes up and his cries for mummy waft down the hall. It’s one of those moments where you know you must act, while simultaneously realising that whatever you do things are almost certainly about to go pear-shaped. There is no time, so I get my son out of his bed, plonk him on the couch and give him some milk. I sit back down in front of the computer just as Theron is coming on the line. It’s all going to be fine I tell myself, only vaguely believing it.

Theron tells me I don’t need to have the camera on if I don’t want to. It’s so early. But I want it on. I know Charlize Theron’s beautiful face so well, as we all do, so it seems polite somehow to let her know mine in return.

We have barely finished saying hello when my son walks over to me, his hands looking for help to get onto my lap. He sits in front of the computer and peers in. “I’m so sorry, my child just woke up,” I say. “It’s really early here. I’m really, really sorry.” I’m smiling but I’m mortified inside.

Theron jumps to my rescue. “No, oh my God, you just made me feel so much better because I’m late to talk to you because my kid was hungry,” she says. “I quickly had to get her something. So we’re in exactly the same position.”