Charlize Theron Claims She’s ‘Too Pretty’ For Certain Roles


Charlize Theron is opening up about the perils of being “gorgeous” in Hollywood and claiming that “pretty” actors are always turned away from hard hitting roles.

E! News is reporting that Theron made the surprising claims in the new issue of British GQ, where Charlize suggested that being so beautiful has actually gotten in the way of her acting career on a number of occasions.

“Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that’s the end of the story,” Charlize Theron told the magazine, before claiming that she and other actors have actually been “turned away” from big roles for being too good looking.

“How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f***ing, gown-wearing eight-foot model?” Charlize said in the May issue of British GQ magazine, claiming that “when meaty roles come through, I’ve been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.”

Theron, who’s the face of Dior, also recently spoke out about being told she was “too pretty” for certain roles in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, where Charlize admitted that she’s been told she’s too beautiful for certain roles on a number of occasions throughout her career.

“I was auditioning for a lot of stuff where they thought I was too pretty,” Theron recently told the Wall Street Journal, admitting that she almost didn’t get a role in the 1997 film Devil’s Advocate because director Taylor Hackford thought she was too good looking to play such a gritty role.

Devil’s Advocate was probably the hardest — they put me through the wringer,” Charlize told the publication recently, “Taylor just wasn’t convinced. He was like, ‘If you were his wife, why would he cheat on you?’ And I was like, ‘What does that even mean?’ ” Theron said.

Charlize Theron previously confirmed that the drama, in which she starred alongside Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino, was a tough sell for her after Taylor Hackford didn’t want her to play Mary Ann Lomax, despite Theron nailing her audition.

“‘If I were blind, the part would be yours. But the problem… is that you might be too beautiful for the character,’ ” Charlize recalled the director saying to her before she eventually landed a part in the film almost 20-years ago. “It was physically draining,” Theron continued, admitting that she stopped wearing make-up and taking care of herself in order to appear less attractive.

“I had to stop wearing makeup, wake up at 6 a.m in the morning, beat myself up, not brush my hair, not put any concealer under my eyes, and went in to read with dark circles under my eyes,” Charlize revealed, “I had to go through hell to make them believe the devil could be in me.”

Charlize Theron also admitted to the Wall Street Journal last year that she turned down a lot of roles that relied on her attractive appearance for fear that she’d be type cast into playing “babe roles.”

“I wasn’t just thinking about the longevity of my career, it was that I wanted to explore different things,” Theron said, “I became aware I could build a career that would be more satisfying to me by saying no.”

After turning down “babe roles” through out her career, Charlize Theron told GQ that she feels there’s an “unrealistic standard” set for women by the media.

“We live in a society where women wilt and men age like fine wine… but now we’re taking leadership,” Charlize told the magazine. “It would be a lie to say there is less worry for women as they get older than there is for men … there’s this unrealistic standard of what a woman is supposed to look like when she’s over 40.”

What do you think of Charlize Theron’s claims that she’s “too beautiful” for certain roles?

[Photo by Christian Augustin/Getty Images]

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