Charlize Theron has never been one to shy away from delivering uncomfortable home truths, which is why she’s recalled the “insulting” experience she was subjected to on the film set of The Italian Job.

“For sure, The Italian Job was a great experience, in the sense that I realised there was still so much misconception around women in the genre, even though in that film the action is really based on cars,” Theron said during a Comic-Con@Home panel discussion. “We had to physically do a lot of that stuff. 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.”

Theron – who starred alongside Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton and Jason Statham in the 2003 hit movie – believed that there was an “unfair process” during the film. “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,” she explained. “And it was just so insulting.”

In true Theron spirit, she says it “put a real fire under my ass”. “I was like ‘alright, you guys want to play this game? Let’s go’. And I made it a point to out drive all of those guys.” Of course, she really did, pulling off many of her own stunts in the Hollywood film. “It was a huge moment of feeling like ‘yeah, we can do all of that stuff’,” she added. “Women are so unfairly thought of or treated when it comes to the genre.”

The Old Guard actor acknowledged that the industry’s attitude has shifted 17 years on. “The good news now is that we’ve kind of changed the genre for women,” she said. “I think there’s great evidence where we now know you can’t hide behind ignorance anymore. Audiences love these films.”