Charlize Theron shares painful memory of being 'verbally abused for 15 hours' on set

Charlize Theron has recalled a deeply unsettling moment from her early career as a model, revealing that she endured a photographer verbally abusing her for an entire 15-hour shoot.

In an interview with AnOther magazine, the 50-year-old actress said the experience left her feeling dehumanized and highlighted the persistent challenges women still face in the industry today.

“I told my daughters the other day about a job I had I remember this photographer yelling at me, verbally abusing me for like 15 hours on a shoot, and just not feeling human,” Theron said.

She added that similar situations continue to occur in modern work environments. “It still happens,” she explained, citing a more recent incident with a photographer who inappropriately touched her while adjusting her clothing. Theron did not reveal the names of the individuals involved.

Reflecting on the evolution of the industry over her three-decade career, Theron said, “It’s four steps forward and 20 steps back, but we’ve come a long way since I started, for sure. You had to squeeze your way in. And really the only way to get in there was to be the trophy, sexy person.”

Theron also shared her early determination to pursue a career in the arts rather than return to South Africa, where her parents ran a road-construction company. 

“Was I really going to do that? I was so driven by wanting to do something in the arts. For me, there was a real focus on how can I go about this so I have longevity?”

The actress previously recounted another uncomfortable experience during her first audition as a teenager. 

She described being invited to a producer’s home late at night, where she encountered inappropriate behavior that left her frozen and unsure how to respond. 

“And then at one point he put his hand on my knee and that’s when I just went, ‘Oof,’” Theron said. “Girls talk about this, where you just go blank. Like, you don’t know what to do.”

Theron said she immediately left the meeting but remained frustrated with herself for not speaking up. 

Years later, the same producer offered her a job, prompting Theron to confront him about the prior incident. “I went purely just to have my moment where he said, ‘Nice to meet you,’ and I said, ‘No, we’ve met before,’” she recalled.