MOVIE NEWS – Charlize Theron, celebrated for her performances in Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, and The Old Guard, is once again making headlines—this time for her honest criticism of Hollywood’s double standards when it comes to women in action roles. Despite an impressive résumé, Theron says her journey has taught her that women rarely get a second chance if their action film flops. Her latest interview is a wake-up call for the industry.

Theron, who won an Academy Award and is recognized for reinventing the modern female action hero, opened up in a The New York Times interview, where she was joined by Uma Thurman, her co-star in The Old Guard 2, which just debuted on Netflix. While Thurman is best known for Kill Bill—which she recalls as an “extraordinary experience, with such a great director. Mad and wonderful, but brilliant.”—Theron’s action credentials stretch much further.

“Yeah, it’s harder. That’s known…”

The Monster actress has appeared in films such as Æon Flux, Prometheus, and The Fate of the Furious, but it’s roles like Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road and Andy in Netflix’s The Old Guard series that cemented her status as a true action icon. Still, she admits that building her career in this genre has been a relentless uphill battle. When asked if it’s harder now to make a big-budget action film with a woman as the lead, Theron didn’t hesitate to call out the current Hollywood climate:

“Yeah, it’s harder. That’s known. Action films with female leads don’t get greenlit as much as the ones with male leads. I think the thing that always frustrates me is the fact that guys will get a free ride. When women do this and the movie maybe doesn’t hit fully, they don’t necessarily get a chance again. With this, we were very aware that eyes were on us. It’s not a risk that studios want to take, but they’ll take it many times on the same guy who might have a string of action movies that did not do so well.”

Theron also took time to shine a light on stunt performers, insisting that the industry must finally acknowledge their contribution to action cinema. “It’s about time we actually recognize those performers,” she stated, adding that she’s become more careful about what she attempts herself. She’s quick to praise her stunt doubles: “They are truly part of character building. Without them, there’s a lot of stuff that would never be in a movie that I’m in.”

With a wry sense of humor, Theron describes how, as she’s gotten older, recovery after action scenes has become the most challenging part: “I think the hardest thing for me as I’ve gotten older is the recovery. My gauge is usually when I can’t bend down to sit on the toilet. That’s when I know it’s been a rough day. Where you have to hold onto both walls just to get your butt down onto the seat.”

Theron’s Long Action Career Hasn’t Been Without Setbacks

Even though she doesn’t perform every stunt herself, Theron’s action career has been physically demanding and far from injury-free. She vividly remembers her first experience with the genre—a box office bomb, Æon Flux (2005), which she herself calls a “bad movie”:

“I had an unfortunate injury on the first action attempt I ever did, for a bad movie called Æon Flux. On day nine, I did a back handspring, and I didn’t get enough height, and I landed on my neck on a concrete bridge. I had the last surgery on my neck 18 years ago. I’ve had surgery on both elbows, my right shoulder, my thumb, carpal tunnel, fractures.”

Source: The New York Times