Charlize Theron ‘Somewhat Shocked’ Over The Controversy Caused By ‘Pretty People’ Comment

Not so long ago, Charlize Theron was participating in a round of interviews, doing her part to promote The Huntsman: Winter’s War, and she made a remark suggesting that attractive people were more often turned down for roles. That comment stirred a bit of controversy with other actresses taking offense to Theron for stating such a questionable thought, but Charlize now says she believes her words had been taken out of context. In hopes of smoothing the waters, Ms. Theron clarifies her thoughts.

Mad Max: Thunder Road Actress Charlize Theron Is Surprised Her Comments Caused Offense

Charlize Theron is known for her iconic beauty, leaving women envious and men adoring of the actress, but Charlize revealed in an interview that her good looks don’t always work to her advantage. In fact, Charlize also said that she’s seen other actresses suffer the loss of roles because they were far too attractive.

“Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that’s the end of the story. How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f—ing gown-wearing, eight-foot model?”

Theron says she often dresses down and says she believes this is how she was able to score her winning roles as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster and Imperator Furiosa for Mad Max: Fury Road.

“When meaty roles come through, I’ve been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.”

Ms. Theron now says her words had been taken in a way that contradicted her intentions, and she now hopes to clarify her thoughts, particularly after so many fans and fellow actresses have found Charlize’s statements offensive. Theron says that the misunderstanding that resulted from her previous statements resulted in a “rough” backlash, and she says she really feels bad because she’s never expressed herself in the way that people have assumed of her following the incident.

Theron says that what she intended to say didn’t translate well, adding that she was “somewhat shocked by how it got so misquoted.”

“I have always been honest that when I was a model 20 years ago it was hard to walk into a [casting] room, and I had to prove myself,” 40-year-old Charlize explained. “Today I’m so lucky that I’m in a place that I don’t have to. But I’m grateful for that, too, because it gives you character and it makes you who you are, and you don’t want everything to kind of come easy.”

Charlize Theron On Feminism And How Hollywood Affects Women Across America

To the contrary, one can never really accuse Charlize Theron of being the type of celebrity to look down her nose at those less fortunate than herself, particularly with the wide range of charities and causes which she takes on in a personal mission to contribute toward a better society. Theron even thinks of her fellow women in ways that some might find surprising as she points out that the image of modern women portrayed on film do, in fact, affect how women are treated across the country.

“But we compartmentalize women too much. We talk about women in Hollywood as if it’s different for women who are bankers in the Midwest. It really isn’t,” says Charlize. “I have friends who are not in this industry-—women, beautiful women. I see the pressures that they face. I see how they feel when they get older. It’s everywhere. If we want to believe that when we make movies, we’re holding up the image of society, then we have to agree that this is something that’s way bigger than just women in Hollywood.”

Things are better for women now than they were when Ms. Theron first came to the United States. She recalls the struggles she faced in attempting to cross over from dancing and modeling to acting, a career change which was virtually unheard of for women. Charlize says she didn’t even tell her closest friends about her acting ambitions because she felt embarrassed and worried about the humiliation if she failed.

“At that time, to be a model turned actor—you just couldn’t come up with a worse combination of a person,” said Ms. Theron.

[Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]