Charlize Theron is not ashamed to talk about whatever happened in her family – that eventually led to the death of her abusive father.
The Academy award winning actress recently appeared for an interview on NPR’s “Fresh Air” and reflected back at the fateful day of 1991, when her mother shot and killed, Charlize’s father – in order to save the two from his abuse.
Charlize was only 15 years old then and living with her family at her South African home. Her father, who was a regular drinker and a violent one at that, constantly abused her and her mother – but it was all put to an end that night.
“This family violence, this kind of violence that happens within the family, is something that I share with a lot of people,” she said during her interview, opening up about the incident. “I’m not ashamed to talk about it because 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.”
Recollecting the horrifying events that led to his death, Charlize stated:
“My father was so drunk that he shouldn’t have been able to walk when he came into the house with a gun. My mom and I were in my bedroom leaning against the door because he was trying to push through the door. So both of us were leaning against the door from the inside to have him not be able to push through.
He took a step back and just shot through the door three times. None of those bullets ever hit us, which is just a miracle. But in self-defense, she ended the threat.”
It was then Theron’s mother, took out her own handgun and shot him in self-defense. He died on the spot.
“My father was a very sick man,” she stated. “My father was an alcoholic all my life. I only knew him one way, and that was as an alcoholic… It was a pretty hopeless situation. Our family was just kind of stuck in it.”
Good on her for speaking out. Hope her story helps others over-coming the trauma of domestic abuse.