Charlize Theron is 'not haunted' anymore by her mother fatally shooting her father: 'He was going to kill us'
Charlize Theron is 'not haunted' anymore by her mother fatally shooting her father: 'He was going to kill us'
Wesley StenzelSat, April 18, 2026 at 5:36 PM UTC
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Gerda Jacoba Aletta Martiz and Charlize Theron in Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 2020Credit: Amy Sussman/GettyKey points -
Charlize Theron said that she is "not haunted" by her father fatally shooting her father in self-defense when she was 15.
The Atomic Blonde actress said that her mom immediately wanted to "move on" after the incident: "Not necessarily the healthiest thing."
"It really did change our relationship," Theron added.
Charlize Theron is reflecting on her mother fatally shooting her father.
The Atomic Blonde actress spoke at length about her mom protecting her from an attack from her alcoholic father when she was 15.
"I think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone," Theron told The New York Times. "I never knew about a story like that. When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore."
Charlize Theron in North Hollywood, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2026Credit: Brianna Bryson/WireImage
Theron detailed how she and her mother stopped by her uncle's house after a trip to the movie theater when she inadvertently offended her inebriated father by not greeting him upon arrival. "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, because I didn’t stop and say hello to everybody," she explained. "Big thing in South Africa, the kind of respect that you have to have for elders. And he was in a state where he just spiraled. Like: 'Why didn’t you stop? Who do you think you are?'"
After she got home, Theron instructed her mother to protect her from a confrontation with her dad. "I knew he was mad at me. So I said to her, 'When he eventually decides to come home, please tell him I’m asleep,'" she recalled. "I went into my room, I turned my lights off, and I was scared. 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."
The Mad Max: Fury Road star said that her father "broke into the house" alongside his brother, noting that he used firearms to break through the home's security measures. "He shot through the steel doors to get in, making it very clear that he was going to kill us," Theron remembered. "We knew it was serious, and so 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."
Theron said that her father fired multiple shots at her and her mother in her room. "He just stepped back and started shooting through the door. And this is the crazy thing: Not one bullet hit us," she said. "The messaging was very clear. I’m going to kill you tonight. You think I can’t come into this door? Watch me. I’m going to go to the safe. I’m going to get the shotgun."
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The Monster actress explained how her mother shot both her uncle and her father. "He walked to the safe, and my mom pulled the door open while the brother was still standing there," she said. "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."
Charlize Theron in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2025Credit: ike Kirschbaum/TKO Worldwide LLC via Getty
Theron said that her mother didn't want to process the incident after her father died from the gunshot wound.
"She picked right up," she remembered. "The next morning she sent me to school. She was just like, We’re going to move on. Not necessarily the healthiest thing, but it worked for us."
Theron added, "She wanted me to forget about it. She didn’t want me to sit in it. We didn’t have therapists around, so in her head the best therapy was, We’ve got to move on."
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The Fate of the Furious actress said that her bond with her mother grew stronger after that fateful night. "It really did change our relationship," she said. "We were always very close. We felt like a team. But that night changed it because in retrospect, once I got out of the shock of it, I realized that she saved my life. Which is a big thing."
Theron is next set to appear in the survival thriller Apex, which hits Netflix next week. She will also star in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which recently revealed that she will play the nymph Calypso.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
