Charlize Theron shares details of the night her mother killed her father in self-defense

Charlize Theron is sharing new details about one of the most traumatic moments of her life. In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, the “Apex” star reflected on the night her father, Charles Theron, was shot and killed by her mother, Gerda, in self-defense when Charlize was just 15 years old.

The actress explained that her father had been drinking with his brother at her uncle’s house in South Africa when tensions escalated. “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,” Charlize recalled. “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.”

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According to Charlize, the confrontation intensified after she and her mother returned home. “As soon as we walked into the house, I said to her, ‘I think you should separate from him,’ ” she shared. “Leaving that house, I knew something was just different. She knew it, too.”

That evening, Charlize tried to avoid another confrontation by asking her mother to tell her father she was asleep when he got home. “I went into my room, I turned my lights off, and I was scared,” the actress told the magazine. “My window faced the driveway, and I could tell the level of anger, frustration, or unhappiness by the way he drove in.”

Charlize said her father arrived enraged and armed. “He shot through the steel doors to get in, making it very clear that he was going to kill us,” she said. “Our country was on the brink of civil war.”

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She described how she and her mother physically held her bedroom door shut. “And this is the crazy thing: Not one bullet hit us,” Charlize said. “But the messaging was very clear. I’m going to kill you tonight.”

According to the actress, her mother retrieved a gun from the family safe as Charles attempted to access more weapons. Gerda fired at Charles’ brother first, injuring his hand after a bullet ricocheted multiple times down the hallway, before turning the gun on her husband. “She followed my father, who was by then opening the safe to get more weapons out, and she shot him,” Charlize recounted.

Authorities ruled the shooting self-defense, and Gerda Theron was never charged.

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Now 50, Charlize says she speaks publicly about the experience because she knows many others have lived through similar violence behind closed doors. “Unfortunately, this is not an isolated story,” she explained. “These things are prevalent in a lot of homes.”

The actress also spoke about how she feels society often fails women experiencing domestic violence. “Women really get a very, very unfair shake, even in this country,” she said. “Nobody takes it seriously, the situation that they’re in. And I don’t think anybody took my mom seriously.”

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Over the years, Charlize has become a vocal advocate for survivors of abuse and gender-based violence. Despite the horrific memories, Charlize says she no longer feels emotionally trapped by what happened. “I think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone,” she said. “When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore.”

Support for those affected by domestic violence is accessible via the National Domestic Violence Hotline or via phone at 1-800-799-7233. These services are provided at no cost, remain strictly confidential, and operate 24/7 with assistance available in over 170 different languages.