South African-born actress Charlize Theron opened up about the night her mother shot and killed her father in a recent interview.
CHARLIZE THERON ON MOM KILLING HER FATHER
Actress Charlize Theron opened up about the traumatic event of her mother shotting and killing her father in self-defense when she was just 15 years old, in an interview with journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro at New York Times. She explained that it started when her father, Charles Theron was irritated at a small mistake that she had made.
“I just knew…that was kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back for him. I felt it, I felt something was different,” she said as she noted that her father was under the influence when her mother killed him.
“I sat down with my mom and said, ‘I think you should separate from him.’ I never imagined that those words would come out of my mouth. I knew he was mad at me. So eventually, when he decided to come home, I said to her, ‘Please tell him I’m asleep’,” she said.
However, later that night, her father broke into the house and in a bid to enter the premises. He shot through the steel doors to get into the house.
“He was going to kill us,” she said.
“The messaging was very clear: ‘I’m going to kill you tonight. You think I can’t come into this door? Watch me. I’m going to go to the safe. I’m going to get the shotgun,’” she explained.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
The actress’ mom, Gerda (née Maritz), had to run to the safe to get her gun by the time he broke through the first gate. The actress explained that she and her mom had to use their bodies to hold the bedroom door shut as her father stepped back and started shooting through the door.
“My mom followed my father, who was, by then, opening the safe to get more weapons out, and she shot him. Unfortunately not an isolated story. These things are prevalent in a lot of families’ homes,” she continued.
Due to this being self-defense, no charges were filed against her.
