Charlize Theron praises her mother for teaching her to be "brave".
The 43-year-old actress has said she learned a lot about bravery from her mother Gerda – who shot Charlize’s father Charles to death in self-defence after he attacked her when Charlize was just 15 – and praised her for being a "great mom" who helped her overcome her "struggles".
Speaking to Extra at the Women in Hollywood event hosted by Elle magazine on Monday (16.10.18), the ‘Tully’ star said: "I think we all have to find our own footing. None of us are born knowing how to navigate life and difficult decisions – especially for young girls. No matter who you are or where you come from, the struggle is maybe a little bit different, but all interconnects. I am lucky enough that I had a great mom who really kind of made me brave and always told me to be brave. I don’t know who I might have been without that."
Previously, the ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ actress – who has adopted children Jackson, six, and August, three – has spoken about her family’s harrowing experience dealing with her father’s addiction, including what it was like when her mother shot and killed her father.
She said: "I just pretended like it didn’t happen. I didn’t tell anybody – I didn’t want to tell anybody. Whenever anybody asked me, I said my dad died in a car accident. Who wants to tell that story? Nobody wants to tell that story."
The star was left traumatised by having an alcoholic father as she never knew what mood he would be in, and said she still finds it difficult to be "dependent" on people now.
She added: "I think what more affected me for my adult life that happened in my childhood was more the every day living of a child living in the house with an alcoholic and waking up not knowing what was going to happen. And not knowing how my day was going to go and all of it dependent on somebody else and whether he was not going to drink or drink."
Charlize Theron’s mother taught her how to be ‘brave’
