Charlize Theron<\/a> has spoken about the night her mother fatally shot her father in self-defence \u2013 describing how she once believed her family were \u201cthe only people\u201d to experience such trauma.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Charlize Theron has spoken about the night her mother fatally shot her father in self-defence, describing how she once believed her family were \u2018the only people\u2019 to experience such trauma<\/p>\n
The actress, 50, recalled the 1991 incident in an interview with The New York Times, reflecting on events that took place when she was 15 and living in South Africa with her mother, Gerda Jacoba Aletta Martiz, now in her 70s, and her father, Charles Theron. <\/p>\n
She said the shooting followed an escalation at home after she and her mother returned from visiting a relative, describing her father\u2019s anger and the events that led to the fatal confrontation. <\/p>\n
Gerda was not charged, with the shooting ruled as self-defence.<\/p>\n
Charlize said: \u201cI think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nShe added: \u201cI never knew about a story like that. When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I\u2019m not haunted by this stuff anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCharlize also described the moments before the confrontation, explaining she had run into the house without greeting her father. <\/p>\n
\nShe added: \u201cI had to pee really badly. So I ran into the house to get to the toilet, and he took that as me being rude, because I didn\u2019t stop and say hello to everybody.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cBig thing in South Africa, the kind of respect that you have to have for elders. \u201cAnd he was in a state where he just spiralled. Like: \u2018Why didn\u2019t you stop? Who do you think you are?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCharlize said she later went to her room, fearing further conflict. <\/p>\n
\nShe added: \u201cI knew he was mad at me. So I said to (my mother), \u2018When he eventually decides to come home, please tell him I\u2019m asleep\u2019. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cI went into my room, I turned my lights off, and I was scared.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nShe went on: \u201cMy window faced the driveway, and I could tell the level of anger, frustration, or unhappiness by the way he drove in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCharlize also said she \u201cjust knew something bad was going to happen\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nShe described her father forcing entry and firing shots. <\/p>\n
\nCharlize said: \u201cThe two of us were holding the door with our bodies because there wasn\u2019t a lock on it. He just stepped back and started shooting through the door.\u201d <\/p>\n
\nBut she added: \u201cNot one bullet hit us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nCharlize said her mother retrieved a firearm and responded. <\/p>\n
\nShe said: \u201cThe messaging was very clear: \u2018I\u2019m going to kill you tonight\u2019.<\/p>\n
\n\u201c\u2018You think I can\u2019t come into this door? Watch me. I\u2019m going to go to the safe. I\u2019m going to get the shotgun\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe also recalled her father and uncle, who had allegedly accompanied Charles, were both shot. <\/p>\n
\nCharlize added: \u201cHe walked to the safe, and my mom pulled the door open while the brother was still standing there. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe brother ran down the hallway, and she shot one bullet down the hallway that ricocheted seven times and shot him in the hand. It\u2019s stuff you can\u2019t explain. And then she followed my father, who was by then opening the safe to get more weapons out, and she shot him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nShe said after the incident, her mother continued with daily life. <\/p>\n
\nCharlize said: \u201cThe next morning she sent me to school. She was just like, \u2018We\u2019re going to move on\u2019. <\/p>\n
\n\u201cNot necessarily the healthiest thing, but it worked for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nHer mother faced no charges as the shooting was ruled self-defence.<\/p>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"19 April 2026 Charlize Theron has spoken about the night her mother fatally shot her father in self-defence \u2013 describing how she once believed her family were \u201cthe only people\u201d to experience such trauma. Charlize Theron has spoken about the night her mother fatally shot her father in self-defence, describing how she once believed her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":235509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14886,3070,14885],"class_list":{"0":"post-235508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-make-up","8":"tag-charles-theron","9":"tag-charlize-theron","10":"tag-gerda-jacoba-aletta-martiz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}