Charlize Theron is the latest actor to speak out against the misogynist culture present in Hollywood after revealing a ‘belittling’ incident during the early days of her career.
In an interview with the Harper’s Bazaar magazine, Theron explained how an unnamed director would take steps to make her 'more f***able'.
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The South African star spoke about how directors would control what she wore and made her feel like a sexual object.
She told Harper's Bazaar: “Having absolutely no control over what you’re wearing is a big one that really f****** annoyed me for years.
“Having some guy make you have a fitting almost in front of them—stuff like that, it’s really belittling. When I started, there was no conversation around it. It was like, ‘this is what you’re wearing'.”
“I remember one movie in particular, this male director who just kept bringing me in, fitting after fitting after fitting after fitting. And it was just so obvious that it was to do with my sexuality and how f***able they could make me in the movie. And when I started out, that was just kind of the norm.”
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Theron also described the sexism she faced filming another movie after being given more training to use the vehicles than the male actors in the film.
“We had to physically do a lot of that stuff. I mean, the only good thing that came out of that experience was that there was a real pressure to pull off those stunts with the actors,” she told IGN.
“And that was the first time I had experienced anything like that. But there was a very unfair process involved. I was the only woman with a bunch of guys and I remember vividly getting the schedule in our pre-production, and they had scheduled me for six weeks more car training than any of the guys.
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“It was just so insulting. But it was also the thing that put a real fire under my a**, and I was like, 'alright, You guys wanna play this game? Let's go'."
The 47-year-old has been a leading light in the fight against chauvinistic behaviour in the filming industry and founded her production company called Denver & Delilah in 2003.
It was Theron’s experience filming Monster which encouraged Theron to start the company after steering away from the sexualised movie which the film’s financiers originally wanted to make.
But the film starring Theron and Christina Ricci turned out to be much more tasteful and the film which director Patty Jenkins wanted.
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We will be able to see Theron on our screen again when The Old Guard 2 is streamed on Netflix, while the platform will also show the fantasy movie The School of Good and Evil, which will premiere on 19 October.
Topics: TV and Film, News
James Hilsum