SHE was just starting out in Hollywood – a naive young actress from SA – when a famous director asked her to audition at his house. Arriving at his mansion, she found him in his pyjamas and as he groped her leg he left her in no doubt about what he really expected from the meeting.
Charlize Theron made her apologies and left. Sitting in her car, she wondered how things could have gone so horribly wrong. Was she somehow to blame? Had she sent the guy mixed messages?
Years later she realised she’d experienced a classic case of sexual harassment – and Charlize (44) is outspoken on the issue that led to the downfall of moguls such as Harvey Weinstein and sparked the global #MeToo movement.
Now the Benoni-born beauty is tackling the topic in her acclaimed new film, Bombshell. Based on real-life events, it exposes the culture of sexual harassment in the slick corridors of top conservative TV news channel Fox News during the 1990s and early 2000s.
“It’s heartbreaking, this film, and it’s disturbing and funny and absurd,” Charlize says. “It pushes a lot of emotion out of you when you watch it.”
She plays Megyn Kelly, the show’s queen bee news anchor who teams up with fellow newscaster Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) and newbie Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie) to blow the whistle on their sex-pest boss, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes (John Lithgow).
Thanks to their efforts the TV titan – who in one scene makes an employee lift her skirt in his office to show him her underwear – was fired in 2016.
The movie has been winning rave reviews and earned Oscar nominations for Charlize (best actress) and Margot (best supporting actress).
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der 6 February 2020-Ausgabe von YOU South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der 6 February 2020-Ausgabe von YOU South Africa.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William
