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<\/p>\nCharlize Theron reflects on the terrifying night her mother shot her drunk gun-wielding father dead in front of her in a rare interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The actress, 48, was just 15 when her dad Charles Theron stormed into the family’s home near Johannesburg, South Africa and fired several times through a bedroom door with the actress and her mother Gerda on the other side.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gerda grabbed her own handgun, opened fire in retaliation, and killed her husband in front of her traumatised teenage daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlize fronts the cover of\u00a0Town & Country’s November 2023 Tenth Annual Philanthropy issue and goes into detail about how the moment changed forever.<\/p>\n
When asked if the harrowing moment spurred her to commitment to combating violence against women, the Hollywood star replies: ‘I would say this: It\u2019s a simple correlation to make.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Harrowing:\u00a0Charlize Theron reflects on the terrifying night her mother shot her drunk father dead in front of her in a rare interview<\/p>\n
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Heartbreaking:\u00a0Charlize fronts the cover of Town & Country’s November 2023 Tenth Annual Philanthropy issue and goes into detail about how the moment changed forever<\/p>\n
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Tragedy: The actress, 48, was just 15-years-old when her dad Charles Theron was killed by his desperate mother who shot him after he started firing bullets at the bathroom door<\/p>\n
‘But I think it\u2019s way more complicated than having just one night of trauma in your life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘With or without that, gender-based violence is so in your face in South Africa and globally. It\u2019s hard to not be aware of these things just purely by being a woman.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
After an investigation, the 1991 shooting was legally adjudged to have been self-defense, and her mother did not face any charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlize adds growing up in South Africa at a time where the country was under apartheid and the devastating effect AIDS had on the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I was around 10 years old, and people around me were dying and scared. We now know that it was HIV and AIDS, but not a lot of people had that information then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘It left an impression on me from a young age that has always been hard to shake.’<\/p>\n
‘Growing up in a country under apartheid and having AIDS come. Those things really, really marked me – I almost want to say more than just that one night in my life.’<\/p>\n
After founding the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program in 2007, Charlize launched the #TogetherForHer initiative to combat pandemic-era violence in Africa and globally, with the actress donating half a million dollars to get the project off the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Tough childhood: Charlize said: ‘I think it\u2019s way more complicated than having just one night of trauma in your life’\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Gorgeous:\u00a0For the shoot, Charlize cut an effortlessly demure figure. For the front cover she wore a sheer black Dior blouse, $21,100 Dior earrings and black trousers from Nili Lortan<\/p>\n
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Candid: Charlize pictured with mum Gerda at the 91st Annual Academy Awards on February 24, 2019 in Beverly Hills<\/p>\n
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Full story:\u00a0Read in Town & Country\u2019s November 2023 Tenth Annual Philanthropy\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘People were being asked to stay at home with their abusers.\u00a0There was a femicide happening in South Africa, and nobody was really talking about it.’<\/p>\n
For the shoot, Charlize cut an effortlessly demure figure. For the front cover she wore a sheer black Dior blouse, $21,100 Dior earrings and black trousers from Nili Lortan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The actress also looked incredible in a $2,350 grey Fendi jumper and matching $2,250 skirt.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlize previously spoke about the harrowing moment her father was shot in front her in the desperate act of self defence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
”My father was a very sick man. My father was an alcoholic all my life. I only knew him one way, and that was as an alcoholic,’ she explained.<\/p>\n
This family violence, this kind of violence that happens within the family, is something that I share with a lot of people,’ she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I do think that the more we talk about these things, the more we realize we are not alone in any of it. I think, for me, it’s just always been that this story really is about growing up with addicts and what that does to a person.’<\/p>\n
Charlize also confessed that she perceived her family dynamic as a youngster as a ‘hopeless situation.’<\/p>\n
‘I think our family was an incredibly unhealthy one. And all of it, I think, scarred us in a way. Of course, I wish what happened that night would have never happened. It\u2019s unfortunately what happens when you don\u2019t get to the root of these issues.’<\/p>\n
In the past Charlize has credited her mother with helping shape her into a strong and brave woman.<\/p>\n
Read the full story in Town & Country\u2019s November 2023 Tenth Annual Philanthropy issue – out now.\u00a0<\/p>\n