Charlize Theron took little time to rise to stardom. After an uncredited role in Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995), she made her mark as Helga Svelgen in 2 Days in the Valley (1996), which opened floodgates of opportunities, including a key role in Al Pacino’s The Devil’s Advocate (1997).

However, the South African-born actress had to wait until 2003 for a proper platform that made more out of her acting prowess than her looks. She played the role of a real-life serial killer in Patty Jenkins-directed Monster and earned an Academy Award for Best Actress for her engrossing performance.

Charlize Theron as Aileen in Monster.

That was a career-defining stint, as from thereon, Theron became a sought-after actress for versatile and hard-hitting roles. Movies like North Country, Mad Max: Fury Road and Young Adult underlined her as an actress who’s capable of leading films, getting her hands dirty, and isn’t afraid of generating laughs at her own expense. She’s certainly the most badass actress in the industry at the moment. However, she didn’t carry the same image always, leading to a producer falsely assuming that he could get creepy with her.

How Charlize Theron Reacted After Producer Put His Hands on Her Knee

Thanks to her incredible acting prowess Charlize Theron quickly became a successful actress with the pedigree and strength to pick and choose the type of characters she wanted to portray. In 2017, the 48-year-old became the first female villain (Cipher) in the Fast & Furious franchise. She didn’t look out of place at all when it came to going head-to-head with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family.

Charlize Theron.

When Theron was just starting out in Hollywood she obviously didn’t boast the same position of strength. Still, she wasn’t meek either. When a major movie producer made creepy advances toward her in his house, the young actress knew what to do. Speaking on The Howard Stern Show, she said:

“I knocked on the door, and he opened up the door and he was in his pajamas. I should’ve [left]. I didn’t. I went in. He had a very healthy ego. He felt very good about himself. There was some kind of Muzak playing in the house. Then we sat down and started talking. He sat very close to me, that was strange. The drinking bothered me, I was like, ‘This doesn’t feel right.’ After he let her know he didn’t care to hear her read any lines, he put his hand on her knee.”

The lopsided power dynamics between powerful individuals and young talents often lead to victims becoming blank in such situations, but Theron sharply took the decision to get out of the house.

How Charlize Theron Fought the Gender Pay Issue in Hollywood

The gender bias issue in the industry isn’t just limited to actresses finding themselves in creepy situations in auditions. It also extends to how their talents are weighed in comparison with their male counterparts. In that regard, Theron used her position of strength very well in 2015.

Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron.

For starring in The Huntsman: Winter’s War she negotiated equal pay for her role. Speaking about her stance, she stated (via ELLE):
“I have to give them credit because once I asked, they said yes. They did not fight it. And maybe that’s the message: That we just need to put our foot down. This is a good time for us to bring this to a place of fairness, and girls need to know that being a feminist is a good thing. It doesn’t mean that you hate men. It means equal rights.”

Be it setting boundaries in her very first interview or raising her voice about the gender pay gap, Theron has consistently shown that she is as gutsy as her on-screen characters!