Charlize Theron, the acclaimed South African-American actress, won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2004 for her role in Monster, where she portrayed serial killer Aileen Wuornos after a dramatic 30-pound weight gain. She underwent another drastic transformation for the 2018 film Tully, gaining nearly 50 pounds to play a mother of three who has just given birth.
The Physical and Emotional Toll of Weight Gain
Theron has been open about the less-than-glamorous aspects of altering her body for roles. In a 2018 interview with People, she admitted that losing weight at age 42 was significantly harder than at 27. “My body flipped me off quite a bit. It’s just way different when you’re older,” she said. “Also this time around I dealt with depression for the first time in my life. I just didn’t eat very healthy and a lot of the processed sugars and things just really put me into a terrible depression, and I’d never dealt with anything like that in my life. It totally took me off guard.”
Gaining Weight for Tully
To gain the weight for Tully, Theron ate as much as possible, feeling a sense of responsibility to her character. She revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that her primary source of fat gain was potato chips. “I ate them everywhere. I had a bag in my car, a bag in the bathroom, a bag in the kitchen, a bag on the counter, a bag in my trailer. Everywhere I went there was just a bag.” She added, “I did this, yes, but mothers do this every single day. They get pregnant, they gain all that weight, and it takes them a year and a half to lose it, and if they don’t, they get judged.”
The Dark Side of Weight Gain
Reflecting on her journey, Theron noted the unexpected impact of processed foods on her mood. “The hardest thing for me was I wasn’t prepared for how that amount of processed food will affect your mood. I dealt with depression for the first time. What they say about ‘what you eat is who you are’ is so true… I was lethargic and tired all the time.” She tried to return to her original form by sticking to a healthy diet and daily exercise, but initially struggled. “I called my doctor and said, ‘I think I’m dying because I cannot lose this weight.’ And he was like, ‘You’re over 40. Calm down. Your metabolism is not what it was.’ Nobody wants to hear that,” Theron said.
Weight Loss at Different Ages
After Monster, when she was 27, Theron lost the 30 pounds simply by skipping meals. “I missed 3 meals, and I was back to my normal weight,” she recalled. However, after Tully, the weight loss took nearly a year and a half, which she considers a very long journey.
Fitness Routine and Diet
Theron’s workout regimen includes Pilates, which she believes has helped her achieve a toned, strong body shape. She also incorporates power yoga, doing two 90-minute classes weekly. When she wants to sweat, she spins up to four times per week and enjoys playing tennis, introduced to her by her mother. “If you do exercise you enjoy, you’re keeping yourself fit without even realising it,” she told Harper’s Bazaar Australia. Theron is calculative about her activities: “I’m always calculating my activity. If I haven’t been moving a lot, I can’t eat a lot. Or maybe it’s a cheat day. But I’m honest with myself.” She avoids alcohol and incorporates green juices and kale salads into her daily diet.
