Charlize Theron recalls mother fatally shooting her father in self-defense

Charlize Theron is recounting the harrowing details of the day her mother killed her father.

During a recent interview with The New York Times, the 50-year-old actress recalled the night her mother fatally shot her father when she was 15 years old, saying she is speaking about it to help “other people not feel alone.”

“I never knew about a story like that,” she said. “When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore.”

The actress went on to explain the events leading up to her father’s death, saying it all started when she didn’t greet him when she arrived at her uncle’s house after a night out at the movies, noting, “I had to pee really badly. So I ran into the house to get to the toilet, and he took that as me being rude.”

Theron is recounting the night her mother shot her father when she was 15 years old in order to save her life. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

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She noted that respecting elders is a big deal in South Africa, and as her father was drunk, “he just spiraled. Like: ‘Why didn’t you stop? Who do you think you are?'”

The “Mad Max: Fury Road,” actress recalled knowing her father was upset with her, and once they got home, asked her mother to say she was sleeping, in order to avoid a confrontation with him.

“I went into my room, I turned my lights off, and I was scared,” she said. “My window faced the driveway, and I could tell the level of anger, frustration, or unhappiness by the way he drove in. The way that he drove into that property that night, I can’t explain it to you. I just knew something bad was going to happen.”

Theron’s gut feeling proved true, as she said her father then “broke into the house” by “shoot[ing] through the steel doors to get in with his brother.”

Theron explained that her father shot bullets through the door she and her mother were hiding behind. (Steve Granitz/WireImage)

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Both Theron and her mother “knew it was serious” and sprung into action.

“By the time he broke into the first gate, my mom ran to the safe to get her gun. She came into my bedroom. The two of us were holding the door with our bodies because there wasn’t a lock on it,” she explained. “And he just stepped back and started shooting through the door. And this is the crazy thing: Not one bullet hit us. It’s insane when you think about it that way.”

“But the messaging was very clear. I’m going to kill you tonight. You think I can’t come into this door? Watch me,” she continued. “He walked to the safe, and my mom pulled the door open while the brother was still standing there. The brother ran down the hallway, and she shot one bullet down the hallway that ricocheted seven times and shot him in the hand. It’s stuff you can’t explain. And then she followed my father, who was by then opening the safe to get more weapons out, and she shot him.”

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A year later, Theron left South Africa to pursue a modeling career in Italy, and later found her way to Hollywood.

Theron grew up in South Africa, moving to Los Angeles in the early 1990s to pursue acting. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

She began her career in Hollywood in 1996, and quickly made a name for herself in films such as “The Devil’s Advocate” and “The Italian Job,” later winning an Academy Award for her role in the 2003 movie, “Monster.”

Earlier this year, Theron spoke about the relationship between her mom and dad when speaking with AnOther magazine and explained how seeing her mother navigate that influenced her acting style.

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“My mom had a complex relationship with my father, and I think it really informed me,” she said. “Obviously, when I was younger, I had no concept of how complicated people and relationships are. 

Theron said watching her mother’s relationship with her father informs her acting choices. (Axelle Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

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“And, of course, I wish that she had a wonderful marriage and didn’t have to experience all of that. But I do think that, in many ways, it made me as an actor be more honest in portraying women.”