Talk:Charlize Theron

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[edit] Esquire Magazine Sexiest Woman Alive?

Currently, this section "personal life" has the statement "Theron is Esquire magazine's 2007 Sexiest Woman Alive, although as of August 21, 2007, this has not been announced." Now, even though i only arrived at her wikipedia page bacuse i had come to the same conclusion, i have a problem with the inclusion of this sentence, especially uncited. For one thing, it may not even be true. Without a citation indicating "inside knowledge" of the selection process, the photo shoots, or the interviews, i can only assume that a confident speculator threw the sentence up there, ruining everyone else's fun in the process. I think a responsible change would be "Theron is believed by many to be..." --Rmbjspd 16:07, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mother's maiden name

Some biographies omit this data, other even fewer omit the father's name and/or surname but not the mother and some more omit both... Btu I can't see thi data being so difficult it cannot be provided...

[edit] African American

Isn't she African American? Shouldn't we note that she's the second African American to win best actress? --Golbez 16:36, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)

We should do so only if she has citizenship in the United States. The article currently implies (but does not state) that she has South African citizenship and I'm unsure as to whether the U.S. allows dual citizenship with South Africa (it does not, for example, with the United Kingdom). In other words, she may not be the second African American to win best actress because she may not be American. If so, it is probably worth noting, however. --Yamla 16:55, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC)
Without trying to stray too far off topic, the US does not object to dual citizenship. Specifically, I am a UK citizen, born and bred in the UK with dual US citizenship. Your statement is dated and no longer correct (I believe the US changed its attitude to dual citizenship in the late 80s).
According to google, her citizenship is "pending". --Golbez 17:55, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)
Assuming she did not have American citizenship when she won the award, I do not believe we should count her as the second african american to win best actress. As are you, I am slightly concerned that it would lead to a flame war anyway, but hey. So long as we stay factually accurate. --Yamla 19:37, 2005 Feb 8 (UTC)
After reading African American and discussing it a bit, I withdraw my objection. American English has chosen it prefers having a term where the words don't match the meaning. So be it; wikipedia's job is to use the labels we have. --Golbez 09:04, Feb 9, 2005 (UTC)
Fair enough, I concur. Obviously, African American, as used in the United States, doesn't actually mean what the words mean. Instead, it refers to a racial makeup. Additionally, it looks likely that Charlize was not American, at least not at the time she won the award. --Yamla 16:03, 2005 Feb 9 (UTC)
If and when Ms. Theron receives American citizenship, wouldn't she be "Afrikaner American" instead of "African American". Specificity of cultural heritage should always be encouraged. -Acjelen 22:28, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
I've heard that Ms. Theron self-identifies as African American. I'm currently looking for a citation. --Llewdor 00:27, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
Anyone who denies that she is African American, legally recognized or not, is a colorist. NorthernThunder 16:29, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
The definition of African American is an American from African descent. Therefore Ms Theron is African American - if she has American citizenship. --Scotteh 16:16, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
Does she have American citizenship? I think she is being slighted because she is White. If she was a Black African, I think no one would question calling her an African-American, even if she was not legally recognized as such. NorthernThunder 18:15, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

What!? I'm rather surprised at the number of people here who would have changed the article to 'African American' simply if she had American citizenship. Having looked over the African American article - and using my prior knowledge, the term African American is a politically-correct way of refering to a black person, or a person of color - clearly Charlize Theron is not black, neither a person of color - she is Caucasian (or white). This is similar to how the word Asian is used to refer to someone that looks like they are Chinese-Japanese-Korean-Etc (or yellow if you like). Caucasian is how we refer to white people. If you read the African American article, it refers to Americans with an African ancestory, just as Caucasians are "White-skinned, of European origin".
Please do not change the article to refer to Charlize Theron as African-American at any point, even if she does receive American citizenship.
Rfwoolf 17:12, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

can i just say 'Rfwoolf' not all black people are amercian so the term african-amercian is not refering to a black person, but a amercian with aficia desent. and another thing you said "neither a person of colour" well white is a skin colour and a race in it's own right so Charlize is a person of colour EVERYONE IS! but yes i think if you put afician amercian on there it might cause some confusion. But if she likes to be self-identified as afician-amercian then we should except that as really she kinder is and amercian with afician desent —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.31.178.60 (talk) 02:05, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

All right, so African American refers to Americans with African descent, in the same way that Asian American refers to Americans of Asiatic descent. To label Charlize Theron as African American would strongly imply that she's black, that her ancestors originated from Africa, that her grandparents' grandparents' grandparents' were born and raised in Africa. None of that is true. If you read African American it will describe over and over again about the black ancestry thing, and here's one particular quote from the article:
Since 1977, the United States officially categorized black people (revised to black or African American in 1997) are classified as A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.
As you can see, that certainly doesn't describe Charlize Theron. As for the term 'person of colour', I do appologise if anyone is offended in any way, I am from South africa where the term does not have an offensive meaning, and even according to the US meaning (at here: Colored) it is only offensive depending on its context. It says colored generally refers to "everyone except white people" (at least in the USA). So you are almost correct that everyone is colored, but the term still takes on a meaning of non-white, and Charlize Theron is white.
Finally, since there are no references saying that Charlize Theron identifies as African American (I have read many articles on her and interviews and she never says that) we cannot call her that. Even if she did identify herself that way, it would be unfounded unless she has a black person in her bloodline.
In closing, nobody is denying that Charlize theron is originally from Africa, and as I am a South African I'm proud of her, South Africa is proud of her, and Africa should be proud of her - to think that an oscar-winning actress can come from South Africa or Africa is fantastic. But make no mistake, she did not come to America as a slave several hundred years ago, she was not previously disadvantaged. I hope this clears things up. Rfwoolf (talk) 06:36, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

Personally, to use the term "African-American" simply to refer to black people (and I mean all black people.....whether or not they are even American at all or not....which I see happening all the time.....in the United States......ALL black people are commonly referred to as "African-Americans") is idiotic to say the least. It seems to me that all of these "-American" terms apply to any American from another land of origin regardless their color, except for "African-American." This idiotic oversight and rigidness is the reason I simply refer to people as black and white, etc. These new PC labels, when there really is no logic being used with regard to how they are applied, just show how idiotic they (the labels) really are (and I consider myself to quite liberal). I mean does the term "Administrative Assistant" make you any less a secretary? Not anymore than these dumb labels make you any less what you really are. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.244.30.189 (talk) 01:32, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Surname

No offence intended to anyone regarding the pronunciation. But Theron is a pretty common name around here. If Will Smith said that his surname was pronounced "Smoof", would you amend an article to say that, in English, Smith is correctly pronounced "Smoof"? Ferdinand Pienaar 18:44, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Do you mean that the "pronunciation guide" inserted may be mistaken? If so, then I agree that the information should be removed. Otherwise, I see no reason for not keeping it. Assuming it's substanciated, it is somewhat interesting, since it is an unwritten rule of etiquete that the "correct" pronunciation of a name is that adopted by the name's "owner". Plus, I for one had no idea that she was Afrikaaner (which, of course, affects what would be the "correct" pronounciation of her name), always thought she was of British descent. Regards, Redux 21:36, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure Theron should be called a French surname either - I mean, originally it is, but it's a pretty common Afrikaans surname too. Joziboy, 26 Feb 2005, 22:15 UTC

[edit] Re:African American

hey african americans are black , she isn't black but you could say souyth african-american

She qualifies as the first African to win the Best Actress Oscar then. I agree that the term African-American is a racial term applying to Negroids and visible decendants of that racial type. If you "look black" or, as I like to tell someone that down plays racial appearance, "you'd have been forced to the back of the bus in 1950's Alabama" then you're now called African American.

Ok, she's african, she's american. Don't put your color predujices on me man, she's african american. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.176.153.68 (talk) 21:45, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

1. Freaked out my university when people from South Africa showed up claiming African-American on the paperwork: one person had seven degrees and likely had financial assistance. My university is an activist university that believes no white man should be educated. It turned out the United States military sponsors lots of education and many white men were military, including me, who gained formal university in addition to military education. The impact in that so called multicultural environment of foreigners surrounded by millions of United States natives in the State was not lost. Labels do matter including the informal ones including the African-American label.

2. Any Black person looking for special recognition should understand that after a few generations in North America you are part of North America and the Western World and need to know your United States or Canadian citizenship. There is nothing wrong with pride of heritage, but beware of the labels you use.

3. Charlize Theron is a beautiful African-American from South America with the ability to make any white guy sit up and pay attention. 172.191.36.167 15:30, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Re: "Charlize Theron is a beautiful African-American from South America? with the ability to make any white guy sit up and pay attention." -- No, Charlize Theron is neither African-American, nor South American, nor black. She could be considered: Caucasian, South African American, American, or South African. Get it? Got it? Good! Rfwoolf 17:17, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

African-American clearly means American of African descent. And yes, I'm Black, and proud of it. But if you call me African-American, you're lying to yourself - The best I can do is point to Africa on a map; I - and most Black people - couldn't even tell you what tribe or village I descend from. It's all that political correctness that makes one want to call a Black person African-American, when they've never seen a grain of sand in Africa! I oppose that term for anyone who has never even been to the Continent.

141.154.59.188 11:25, 28 December 2005 (UTC) miyna

172.191.36.167 - She is from South Africa. God, idiot!--HamedogTalk|@ 14:59, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
Stop Your defamatory response, "God, idiot" is a personal attack, and is not in line with Wikipolicy. Even if the person was a troll, or if she was lying, etc, I still find your response inappropriate. Rfwoolf 17:18, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Jesus, you guys, who is the person who said Charlize was an "African American from South America"? lol People in "South America" are Amerindian, not black. Anyway, I would say leave her as being from South Africa, even if she is naturalized American, because it'll create confusion if it's changed. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Prophetess mar (talk • contribs) 03:38, August 22, 2007 (UTC).

I would just like to point out that Africa is a continent and that South Africa is a country. If you must label people, please be consistent. People that are wanting to say that she is South African-American, I say to you, then why do we not trace everyone to their exact country in Africa and call them accordingly? No, we combine the continent in which they came with the country in which they reside in now. If you are being consistent and equal, she is African-American. Ace Fool (talk) 04:30, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] relationship to Joffrey Ballet

Many internet sources claim that Theron danced with the Joffrey Ballet; but to my knowledge (as a Joffrey employee) this is untrue. The Wiki now states, probably correctly, that she trained at the Joffrey school. Can anyone confirm this? Snud Swimp

This site (http://www.seasonmagazine.com/Profiles/charlize.htm) says so. DocOck 07:03, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

The above site is no better a source than any other online. However, given that the Wiki entry (formerly) stated that Theron danced in the Joffrey Ballet's "Swan Lake", it is patently false. The Joffrey has never produced this ballet in its history. Furthermore, if it is true that Theron danced in the Nutcracker, it can only have been as an overhire - or extra - and not as a company member. As her participation cannot be verified, it too has been deleted. I'd like to see an interview with Theron herself where she is more specific on the subject, but I never have. --Snud Swimp 18:48, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I've come to the conclusion after reading articles on her official site (http://www.charlizetheron.com) that the edit I made on the main page is correct - she did in fact attend the Joffrey Ballet School. On the Sony Pictures website (http://www.sonypictures.co.uk/homevideo/trapped/biolist/bio-CharlizeTheron.html), her biography states that she did dance in The Nutcracker and Swan Lake - but not with the Joffrey Ballet. --Snud Swimp 19:22, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Beauty of Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron is a beautiful woman. She is nice, good looking, and talented. Charlize Theron is a public personality and the beauty issue is relevant as someone who solely makes a living off of image. The celebrities really do not do anything except timely song and dances in the hopes and dreams of selling their film and television products for spoiled people that has the media circus displayed in their homes through television. Much of broadcasts and film are fantasy, and yea, if you believe Aeon Flux is real, then you have deeper problems than the issue of love. Charlize Theron is a beautiful woman who has gained lots of love from the public.

I find myself wondering if there is any particular point to the entry above. While underscoring the fact that Theron is beautiful and talented, its primary focus would seem to be a cynical statement about the public being too obsessed with celebrities. While this is certainly true, there is no particular reason to discuss it in the context of this article. Any attractive celebrity could be used as the spur for such a conversation, but it has no bearing on the merits of the public or private lives of those in question.

[edit] Picture?

Can anyone take the time to upload a picture of er in the article? I don't know how to.

Well, that's done now, three times over. JackO'Lantern 07:24, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
What has happened to the picture?Fillup 11:07, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
The picture was in violation of WP:FUC. It was removed. --Yamla 15:13, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] U.S. citizen

Does anyone know if she is a naturalized US citizen? I removed the "American models" category because I am certain that she is not.

Theron is a US citizen, as of 2007. She stated so in her recent Vogue interview. See the link on her page for her comments.

[edit] Father's death

Some of the magazine interviews cited on Charlize's own website state that her father died in a car accident. [1] So obviously she was giving out a fake story earlier in her career. Anyone know who broke the real story in the MSM? Ellsworth 00:26, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nationality

"Charlize Theron (born August 7, 1975) is an Academy Award-winning Afrikaner actress who was born in South Africa."

Should'n it read, a South African actress? ��Dr.Poison 20:39, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Sigh, it's a long story (just look through the page history). It always was "South African acress", until someone went and changed it to "Boer", which was subsequently changed to "Afrikaner", with the "born in South Africa" part tacked on. My vote is still for the original, simple "South African acress", since her ethnicity/country of birth doesn't really enter into it. At best, it can be a note in the introductory paragraphs. dewet|✉ 21:07, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
I actually support this. Our good friend User:Alcatel, who really likes pushing this POV, originally changed it to Boer ... I changed it to Afrikaner and it further degenerated after that, which even caused one of my edits to be reverted ... first time that's ever happened to me ... hah ... Elf-friend 07:15, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I thinkit's rediculous putting the words "Afrikaner actress" on a biography in the 21st century. Come on. The word Afrikaner only existed in the years of apartheid. I am sure Charlize cringes at the thought of being called that. Why not just say South African actress. That is what she is. Afrikaners shouldnt still be existing. Might as well put "Nazi actress" on some German womans bio. It's rediculous. Just correct it. PLEASE

I agree, she should be called South African, not Afrikaner Jamandell (d69) 15:06, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
LOL "Boer". That term isn't even used anymore, and if it is used, it anyway refers to the male form of farmers, lol. --Scotteh 16:22, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Input from a South African: South Africa is a multi-cultural nation, and within its white/caucasian population alone you could categorise people into various groups such as: Afrikaners, English South Africans, Portugeuse South Africans, Greek South Africans, etc. These only refer to some of their inheritance, or in the case of Afrikaners the language they speak. So that is primarily why it is silly to categorise her as an 'Afrikaner' actress (which would indicate more that she has acted in a lot of Afrikaans things). Also, calling her only Afrikaans (and not South African) would exclude the fact that she's South African, whereas calling her South African, would technically include that she might be Afrikaans, understand?
In this case we all need to decide exactly what we want to communicate:

Charlize Theron is an Academy Award winning actress

She is South African

Charlize Theron is a South African Award winning actress

She is part of the Afrikaans culture

Charlize Theron is a South African Award winning actress [...] [...Later in the document...] Charlize Theron speaks fluent Afrikaans, and [and if absolutely necessary] can be considered culturally as an Afrikaans South African.

Rfwoolf 17:31, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] German citizenship application

"She has tried to apply for a German passport because of her mother's German ancestry, but was turned down because she did not have any family members currently residing there."[6]

That doesn't make any sense. In order for Charlize to become a German citizen, her mother needed to be a German citizen at the time of Charlize's birth. Simply having German ancestry is not enough, regardless of whether you have relatives in Germany or not.

[edit] Hair color

Is Charlize a natural blonde?

  • No, She's a brunette. Saw it on a high school yearbook pic. Don't have the link anymore. Hope someone finds it.
    • A little belated, but she says in this interview regarding her role in In the Valley of Elah where she was a brunette: "That's my natural hair colour. That's me with very little make-up." Tabercil (talk) 16:01, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Huguenots, apparent multilingualism

That her father, Charles Theron, is 'of French Huguenot descent' is fairly irrelevant. The name Theron may bear witness to French Huguenot ancestry, but since the Huguenots arrived in South Africa in the 1670's an 1680's, and integrated wholly into the Afrikaner 'gene-pool', like the Dutch and the Germans and some Scots etc..etc.., it's a common Afrikaans surname, it would make as much sense (and still very little) to say Charlize herself was of French Huguenot descent. I would also fathom to suggest that her mother, Gerda, likewise simply carries/carried a surname of German origin, and that her actual German ancestry is possibly diluted to an equal extent. Also, Charlize has 'varying levels of fluency' in around 30 other African languages and dialects? You'd have to be a rather cunning linguist to even NAME 30 languages and dialects. Somebody's confused Charlize Theron with Charles Berlitz!!! FlyBang 23:21, 13 November 2006 (UTC)


I have to agree with the above statement on the over assessment of her linguistic abilities. One further point; the article states that she speaks Xhosa. Surely if she is from Benoni the likelyhood is that she would have learnt Zulu, Tswana or another language. In the Eastern and Western Capes I would agree that she may have learnt Xhosa, but not Benoni. This I think is somewhat inaccurate.

[edit] South African-American or African-American?

I think the former is considerably more precise and is of course verifiable. If there is a reason I am unaware of to use the latter, here would be the place to discuss it. --John 04:47, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Changing back to more formal African-American. Not all African-American are black. Soryy for being politically incorect.71.99.141.217 04:19, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
Changing back to the more accurate South African-American. Are you familiar with WP:POINT? It may be worth a read. If you continue to restore this incorrect description you will be at risk of another block. --John 04:27, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
Agree with John on this point. African-American is an ethnic group which she most certainly does not belong to, but neither is there a "South African-American" group which is the impression that the hyphen creates. The concept of American ancestry in the form of the Hyphenated American is complex. We only need to describe her nationality here and a fuller description such as South African (naturalized American citizen since 2007). --Deon Steyn 06:28, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
South African American? Yet I guarantee a black "South African American" would be simply "African American" - why do only blacks from that continent have a mortgage on the term? This whole discussion simply points out how absurd this PC term is.70.189.213.149 (talk) 05:57, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Can we just take all of the editors who want to label Theron as African-American and throw them all into pits full of hungry crocodiles? The world would be better off without these morons.CAVincent (talk) 08:25, 5 December 2007 (UTC) Okay, per Rfwoolf comments below, I was out of line on the personal attacks. I hereby replace the hungry crocodiles with flatulent poodles. CAVincent (talk) 03:59, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

CAVincent, please please believe me I strongly agree with the sentiment you expressed, but we shan't be using any form of personal attacks now can we? You didn't specify anybody in particular so that's why it should be okay. Everybody, look up, you'll see this discussion has been broached three times now. Charlize Theron is not African-American, nor will she ever ever ever be. Not when she gets American citizenship, not when she gets dual-citizenship, not when she identifies as African-American, never. South African-American would be problematic because of the hyphen, which leaves us with South African American which is also problematic. At the end of the day she is a South African-born American, or just South African. When her citizenship is verifiable we might consider her just American. Rfwoolf (talk) 11:59, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

I am learning more now about how racist this concept of American hyphenization is. Frankly, I always thought that since it was an American-centric issue that it doesn't belong on Wikipedia, at least not as categories. NorthernThunder (talk) 08:48, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Flag icons

I removed the flag icon citing WP:FLAG, a former essay which has fairly recently attained Manual of Style status. After doing it I realised why this was such a good instance of why flags are bad in situations like this; we used to have Flag of South Africa, but, as Theron was born in 1975, we should really have had , as this was the South African flag at the time of her birth. There are dozens of reasons why supplementing places of birth with little flags is confusing and simplistic, and this, it seems to me, is a really good example of why.

On a completely different note, is this article written in US or Commonwealth English? I express no opinion about which I prefer, but it should certainly be consistent. --John 04:59, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

Added a short bit about her incessant mixing up of Budapest and Istanbul in an interview, and the mayor's response. Excuse me, Charlize. Gregorik (talk) 19:51, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Filmography

Charlize Theron is not listed in the cast for Ice at the Bottom of the World (2009) in IMDb. Is there are source for this info? If not, it should be removed. Also, IMDb has the release as 2008, not 2009. 2008 is obviously questionable, but may be correct. At least the 2008 date has a source. Davidl9999 (talk) 15:58, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

According to an article in the Boston Globe, two actors are quoted as saying she has a very foul mouth: http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2008/03/08/shes_more_than_that/.

Who would have thought? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.72.38.254 (talk) 20:20, 21 March 2008 (UTC)


Girl !

Charlize Theron: reading in the sites of: Robert De Niro: Wikipedia, the free encyclopdia: written a few minutes ago: one hour ago: you must to search: the jokes blanked out Brenda Song: that´s no joke: you know what i mean: take your chance: the actores have their projects at same to time to their movies: you got it take your chance now: until to: Charlize Theron: take your chance: step into your own life: you are my girl: wishing you the best to the awards: good luck: Ariel Gade=Charlize Theron: baby girl: i am yours: take me but don´t hurt: here we go: an example for finger tapping: acoustic finger tapping: YUDUM: YOLLAR HASTA BEN YORGUNUM: Eric Mongrain: acoustic finger tapping: AFT: and: Stanley Jordan: Electro Finger Tapping: EFT: if you want to search: Mark Wahlberg: Discussion: do it right: there are only one life: there´s nothing to loose: now you know: step into your own life: let me enjoy you: step: enjoy the price: come on: i know you want me: you really wanna: straig to the door: there´s nothing to loose: i can show you things: you never knew they exist: never: girl: true: you know it´s true: come on: straight to: you are my girl: girl yoúu know it´s true ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.6.105.118 (talk) 02:37, 6 April 2008 (UTC)