Charlize Theron has given a candid interview to The Hollywood Reporter in which she goes over many of the movies in her long career. One such movie is the notorious science fiction flop Aeon Flux which came out in 2005, which Theron says she knew was going to be bad. This is what led her to appear on comedy series Arrested Development.
Theron says; “this is going to sound so ‘poor me,’ but I do feel like sometimes, as women, we get one shot and I knew that [the 2005 action flick] Aeon Flux was going to be a fucking flop. I knew it from the beginning, that’s why I did Arrested Development.”
Theron was asked what you do in a situation where you know it’s not working; “You fight until the bitter end. With that one, I don’t know if I had the answers for how to [fix it], but I definitely knew we were in trouble. I wasn’t a producer on it, and I didn’t really have the experience to say what I believe Tom Cruise has maybe said for the past 20 years, which is, ‘Shut this shit down, get four more writers on it and let’s figure this out.'”
Theron continued; “Instead, I’m going, ‘Oh God, I’ve just got to get through this day, I have bronchitis, but let’s keep shooting.’ Now I imagine all these male actors going, ‘Shut it down for six months!’ And it’s like, fuck, no one told me that was an option.”
Theron has now become a prolific producer, on the likes of Atomic Blonde, Long Shot, and The Old Guard. She has also executive produced Murder Mystery (starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston) and Mindhunter for Netflix. This obviously gives her a lot more power and control when it comes to the direction that projects may be heading in.
While we wait for The Old Guard 2 (and possibly Atomic Blonde 2), check out our guide to the best action movies.