Charlize Theron Didn’t Have Teeth Until She Was 11

Charlize Theron is one of the most recognizable stars on the planet these days but if you saw her before the age of 11 you would have witnessed a toothless child.

The 36-year-old South African actress sat down with the Sun (UK) this week and she revealed that because of a battle with jaundice and other health related issues she didn’t fully form teeth until two years before she became a teenager.

Charlize tells the Sun:

“My early childhood was quite devastating. I had no teeth until I was 11. I had these fangs because I had jaundice when I was a kid and I was put on so many antibiotics that my teeth rotted. They had to cut them out. So I never had milk teeth. That was tough, you know, being in school having photos taken while I was pretending I had teeth. It was hideous.”

Looking at Charlize and her perfect Hollywood style and grow adult physique its definitely not easy to picture her running around with no teeth as a child.

In the meantime Charlize Theron says it was her experiences in school that has given her the know-how to play tough characters while never shying away from unglamorous parts that other leading ladies would run screaming from. Case in point her turn as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 hit Monster, that role earned her the Best Actress Oscar.

Theron cleverly tells the publication of her choice in roles:

“You know, girls don’t wake up with lip gloss on. And I don’t ever think about it as ugly versus pretty. There’s a lot of movie people out there that I can’t relate to.”

In the meantime Theron is returning to the big screen in Snow White and the Huntsmen. She took a three year break from acting so she could focusing on adopting and raising her son Jackson.

Are you surprised with Charlize Theron’s ability to use her strange toothless past as a motivator for her work?