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Cape Town – She’s an A-list actress, powerhouse producer and an outspoken activist, but first and foremost Charlize Theron is a mom to her two beautiful children.
The South African beauty is the cover star of ELLE magazine’s May issue and is sharing her take on raising her kids in the current social climate.
SEE CHARLIZE ON THE COVER OF ELLE HERE:
Charlize adopted son Jackson, 6, in 2012 and daughter August, 2, in 2015. In a telephone interview with her close friend Chelsea Handler, she shares how her life has changed since.
Pertaining to her latest role as an exhausted mom in Tully, Chelsea asks Charlize about her own two kids.
“Perspective” is one thing the 42-year-old has learned since becoming a mother.
“I just see things clearer. A child in my twenties was the scariest idea I could think of. When I got to my thirties, I was so ready.”
Having said that though, Charlize admits that she has her bad days, and so do her kids.
“I have bad days. I make mistakes. Going through the tantrum stages when they’re such little assholes. And they choose the worst moments. It’s a lot for one person. But after six years of having my two nuggets, there’s not a day when I wish I hadn’t done this.”
As previously reported by Channel24, Charlize told People she drew upon her own experience as a mother for her role in Tully.
“When you’re told you need to look tired and overworked for a role, it’s not hard to remember what those first few months with a newborn are like,” she said at the time.
And while Charlize is happy being a single mom, she admits she hasn’t done it by herself.
“I knew that I would have to have my mom help me if I was going to do this as a single parent. To not acknowledge her in co-parenting my children would be a lie.”
The Atomic Blonde actress adds that many people may thing she has a house full of staff to take care of her kids she only has “one nanny and my mom up the street and amazing friends and family” who she calls her village.
On raising two kids of colour in Trump’s America, Charlize says being raised during Apartheid in South Africa made her so much more aware of “equality and human rights,” adding that now is the time to be vocal.
“I don’t even know how to talk about the last year under our new administration. But racism is much more alive and well than people thought. We can’t deny it anymore. We have to be vocal...There are a lot of times when I look at my kids and I’m like, If this continues, I might have to [leave America]. Because the last thing I want is for my children to feel unsafe.”
This is not the first time Charlize has spoken about racism in America. In an interview broadcast on CNN International (DStv 401) in August 2017, Charlize said that racism in the US is a scary thing to witness.
Speaking from Johannesburg on CNN International's Amanpour, Charlize said: “I see racism alive and well and that scares me, and saddens me.”
Regardless the Monster actress emphasises that she will continue to educate her kids about the social climate they are growing up in.
“They need to know where they come from and be proud of that. But they’re going to have to know that it’s a different climate for them than it is for me, and how unfair that is. If I can do something about that, of course I’m going to.”
READ CHARLIZE THERON’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH CHEALSEA HANDLER FOR ELLE HERE.
