During an interview, the 'Long Shot' actress reveals that one of the financiers for the award-winning movie called her to complain about her 'horrible' appearance.
- Nov 22, 2019
AceShowbiz - Weight gain almost cost Charlize Theron one of her most notable films. The Oscar winner has gone candid about her experience of becoming a producer in Hollywood, revealing that she came close to losing one financier for "Monster" after she gained 30 pounds for the lead role.
The "Long Shot" star disclosed the biggest fight she ever waged to get the movie made when taking part in The Hollywood Reporter's Producer Roundtable. "As soon as I started gaining weight, I had one of the financiers call me up," she recalled. "Actually, his wife saw me, and she was like, 'Did you see Charlize? Have you seen what she looks like?' And I got that call, like, 'What's going on with that?' "
The leading lady of "North Country" continued on, "This is back in the day when it took, like, three weeks for dailies to make it back here, and I got a call at 3 A.M. from the guy. He was like, 'What are you doing? You never smiled. You look so angry, you look horrible.' "
As for her reaction to the situation, the ex-fiancee of Sean Penn noted, "So you panic a little bit because you are putting yourself out there, and you are taking a risk, and when you do that, you are not a hundred percent sure. You are taking a chance. So there is a part of you that second-guesses, right? And you are like, 'Shit, well, maybe I did go too far with this.' Then you realize you have to stand that ground."
During the hour-long discussion in October, the 44-year-old further opened up about experiencing the eleventh-hour issue that sent her into a panic. "On the day that Patty and I were going to sign the contract for a straight-to-video with Blockbuster on 'Monster' because no distributor would pick it up - literally, the lawyer was coming to the editing room - we got a call from [distributor] Bob Berney," she spilled.
Charlize went to add, "Those things happen where you stop trying, you almost give up and surrender. But then magic happens. It is a little bit like we work in a business where we are trying to constantly capture that lightning in a bottle, right? And if it was all about just manufacturing it, then everybody would probably be able to do it."
These fights proved to be worthwhile for Charlize. The South African-born beauty went on to win the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the SAG Award for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the Patty Jenkins-directed crime drama film.
