Directors making an inappropriate pass at talent is, unfortunately, commonplace in Hollywood, especially when someone is just starting in the business. Almost every actress or actor has a story, andCharlize Theronis no exception. TheAcademy Award-winneris revealing that she found herself in a position where a director made a sexual pass at her and then tried to clean it up with an explanation that implied she misunderstood his advances.
During an appearance on theCall Her Daddypodcast, Theron detailed an early audition in her career where a male director sexually harassed her. She first revealed the incident on a 2019 episode ofThe Howard Stern Show,but she went into further detail on the popular podcast hosted by Alex Cooper. The actress revealed that she was instructed to go to the director’s home, who she does not mention by name, on a Saturday night for an audition. According to Theron, he answered the door in his pajamas and then “put his hand on my knee,” before she decided to quickly get herself out of the situation.
“I didn’t know the audition what the audition process looked like. I didn’t know how you went about being an actor…[my agency] said there was a casting for this movie and you’ll have to go on a Saturday night. It was this director’s house. The little voice inside me definitely said, ‘This isn’t right.’ But then, the other voice in me says, ‘Well, I don’t know. Maybe it is right.'”
The Director In Question Tried To Put the Blame on Charlize Theron
It appears that after Charlize Theron revealed the story onThe Howard Stern Show, the director in question reached out to her because he knew the story was about him. Theron said that she didn’t want to reveal his name because “I don’t want the story to be about him,” but she did reveal that the letter he wrote her explaining his actions implied that she misunderstood his intentions during the audition at his home.
“He got nervous for a little bit. He heard me tell the story and knew it was about him, and he wrote me a pretend letter trying to explain his behavior and how I must have misunderstood it, which is classic isn’t it? It’s so classic.”
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Theron not only portrays a woman to be reckoned with inThe Old Guard 2, but she’s also a genuine force in real life, as she goes further into how she ripped the director in question a new one. The actress continued by saying, “I won’t even f**king say your name because you know you’re the scumbag. You know it’s you. If anybody ever asked me about him, I would be completely honest, and he knows that. I kind of like that he’s got to be on a hot seat. He doesn’t know when it’s going to come. I kind of like that a little more.”
Sadly, stories like this arefar too commonin the industry, and even though things have gotten better, issues remain in terms of power dynamics. Theron luckily saw it going into that audition and wasn’t going to let him use his power to undervalue her as a sexual object.
“I will not let a motherfcker fck with me any day of the week, but when somebody catches you off guard like that…I was never going to get a part that night. I knew it as soon as I left. I wasn’t there because I had some value that I was going to bring to his movie. I was only valued for one thing.”
