How a co-star Charlize Theron couldn’t stand made her a better actor: “I had a rough time”
Actors might have a shared passion for their craft, but with that comes an incredible range of personalities, and sometimes they simply clash.
Charlize Theron discovered the challenge of working with someone she didn’t like all that much when she was just starting out in the industry, specifically when she was cast in The Cider House Rules in 1999. Directed by Lasse Hallström, the Oscar-winning film saw Michael Caine, Paul Rudd, Delroy Lindo, JK Simmons, a young Kieran Culkin, and even musician Erykah Badu round out the cast, although it was lead actor Tobey Maguire of whom Theron didn’t think much.
The pair had to play love interests, and Theron knew that she was going to have to try really hard if she wanted to convince audiences that there was any chemistry between the two of them. Sometimes you just don’t gel with someone, and despite the fact that Theron and Maguire were both the same age, born just two months apart, in fact, they didn’t take to each other.
Clearly, they were both skilled enough to land parts which required chemistry, though. Theron reflected on the experience as a good one because she learned how to work with someone who provided more of a mental challenge, and eventually, she warmed to him.
“Tobey and I had a bit of a rough time,” the actor told V magazine, “I mean, we’re good now. It was a difficult movie. Every day is completely different for a completely different reason”.
She explained, “Whether it’s the weather, or the writing isn’t there, or you don’t get along with your castmate, you have to be able to go to something else that’s just as powerful. Does it make it as enjoyable? Probably not. I mean, there were just a couple of days that Tobey and I had a rough time.”
Shooting a movie is always going to be a challenge; the pressures of being under a time constraint, staying on budget, and mastering perfectly executed performances surely takes its toll, creating a tense environment for everyone involved, so, for a little while, it seemed like a strong working connection between Theron and Maguire was unlikely
However, with this, the South African star was able to learn a lot about being an actor, admitting, “The rest of the movie, we actually had a really good time. I love Tobey. I’m kind of glad we had that experience on that movie. It teaches you different things.”
One of these lessons was related to the romance between the characters, something Theron did not feel for Maguire in real life, as she revealed, “It taught me that I could fall in love with somebody in my head while looking at someone else… We had some really intimate moments. Tobey and I didn’t feel that way about each other, so I had to figure something else out.”
