Charlize Theron recently reminisced about the murder of her father, Charles Jacobus Theron.
For those who don’t know, acclaimed South African-American actress and producer mother Gerda Theron murdered alcoholic Charles in self-defense in 1991. Gerda shot a bullet that went through the door and struck Charles while she and 15-year-old Charlize were hiding from Charles.
The New York Times interviewed The Old Guard actress, where she stated that such harrowing incidents “need to be talked about.”
She explained: “I think these things need to be talked about because it doesn’t make other people feel alone.”
“I never knew of a story like this. When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore,” she stated with a confession.
Charlize gave the full account of the events leading up to her father’s tragic death, saying she and her mother then took a trip to the cinemas and her uncle’s house. Everything happened as it should have, but the situation took a dark turn when she didn’t greet her drunken father after coming home with her mother, Gerda.
Explaining the reason why she didn’t greet her father, the 50-year-old joked: “I really had to pee. So I ran into the house to go to the toilet and he took it as rude because I didn’t stop to say hi to everyone.”
“The big thing in South Africa is the kind of respect you have to have for elders. And he was in a state where he went into a spiral, like, ‘Why didn’t you stop? Who do you think you are?'” Snow White and the Huntsman star noted.
Charlize was aware of her father’s anger and to stay safe from his anger, she went to her mother and told her, “If he finally decides to come home, please tell him I’m sleeping.”
She recalled: “I went to my room, turned off my lights and I was scared. My window looked out onto the driveway and I could see the level of anger or frustration or unhappiness in the way he drove in. The way he drove into that building that night, I can’t explain to you. I just knew something bad was going to happen.”
It is pertinent to mention that Charlize Theron’s mother did not open fire on her husband first: she killed him to save them.
