Academy Award for Best Actress

2003

Charlize Theron 

as

Aileen Wuornos

Monster

Charlize Theron (/ʃɑrˈliːz ˈθɛrən/ shar-leez therr-ən; Afrikaans pronunciation: [ʃɐrˈlis tron]; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress, producer and fashion model. She has starred in several Hollywood films, such as The Devil's Advocate (1997), Mighty Joe Young (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999), The Italian Job (2003), Hancock (2008) A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

Theron received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster (2003), for which she won the Academy Award, Silver Bear, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress among several other accolades, becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. She received further Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in the sexual harassment-themed drama North Country in 2005 and a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Jason Reitman's 2011 comedy-drama Young Adult.

Theron became a U.S. citizen in 2007, while retaining her South African citizenship. In the late 2000s, she moved into the field of producing, both in television and film. In 2006, she produced the documentary East of Havana. She had producing credits on the films The Burning Plain (2008) and Dark Places (2015), both of which she starred in. In 2012, she played Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman and Meredith Vickers in Prometheus, both of which were box office successes.