“I hate fussing”: Charlize Theron explains her most important acting lesson and chemistry with Jason Reitman
The hallmark of a great actor is often the versatility in their portfolio. Their ability to shapeshift between roles on all parts of the emotional spectrum easily and without the pre-conceptions of their abilities being confined to one category. Undoubtedly, Charlize Theron has achieved this level of acclaim with a filmography that spans the aforementioned.
And in the industry, Theron would have been an all too familiar target for studio executives to pigeonhole. Predicable and reductive, Hollywood has a habit of limiting its acting capabilities to attractive people simply to their appeal of being attractive. But her stellar performances in the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road and Tully and her Oscar-winning performance in Monster have spat back in the face of traditional expectations and raised her star into the realms of artistic greatness.
It’s a reputation that has allowed her to bounce between cookie-cutter blockbusters, arthouse drama, and comedy. In recent years, she has increasingly delved into the latter genre to good effect with films like Longshot and Young Adult.
In Young Adult, Theron takes an unrelenting approach to depicting prolonged adolescence and carefully balances the portrayal of a character grappling with a deep internal conflict while maintaining a pretence of vapidity. While framed as a comedy, it’s a profoundly emotive performance from Theron, who challenges the audience’s loyalty throughout, pressing them to dislike her character, Mavis, as the film develops. Such a performance requires a creatively free environment, where letting go of the normal social structures that uphold the respectability Mavis doesn’t have is encouraged.
So when Jason Reitman, the film’s director, came calling and asked Theron to be involved, it must have been an essential creative consideration. In a 2011 interview with Emanuel Levy, Theron explained her trust in Reitman as a director: “The biggest lesson I’ve learned in my career is that you can have great material, but if you don’t have a director who inspires you or is capable, it really doesn’t matter. It’s important to have chemistry with a director, and Jason and I could not be more similar in terms of how we approach the work. I had complete trust in him – so when he said we had a scene in two takes, I could walk away from it believing that we did.”
She continued: “I hate fussing and rehearsal, and I love just coming in and getting the job done. And that’s how he works. He has a real love for what he does and is protective of the characters and the process. For me, that’s all I can ask for.”
If Theron’s aforementioned approach and overall filmography indicate anything, it’s a commitment to portraying authenticity. Be it framed in a dystopic thriller or comedy, Theron’s acting has always gone against the grain of expectation and focused on truth, cementing her status as one of the best in the business.
