LOS ANGELES -- To play a bedraggled serial-killing prostitute in "Monster," Charlize Theron underwent a process akin to a butterfly in reverse metamorphosis.
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Charlize Theron was transformed into a bedraggled serial-killing prostitute in Monster.
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The former ballerina and model transformed her covergirl face and figure into the harsh form of murderer Aileen Wuornos in an acclaimed performance that rendered Theron unrecognizable.
Theron said her grim embodiment of the true-life character reflects the hardships that explain - but do not excuse - the crimes of the transient who was executed on Florida's death row after killing and robbing seven men in Florida.
"Everything that she lived through she carried in her face, and carried all this tension in her mouth, and carried in the way she staggered and spoke and used her eyes to underline what she felt," the 28-year-old Theron said.
"It's the kind of thing that as an actress I was always waiting for, something that would be extremely difficult and challenging and hard," she added. "Every day of struggling with the emotional side of this movie was, in a cathartic way, a blessing for me."
The South African-born actress has been regarded by many critics as a competent romantic lead in movies such as "Sweet November" and "The Italian Job," but one whose enchanting beauty made it hard to take her seriously.
With "Monster," she proves she's more than eye-candy for the screen, which could propel her into the ranks of Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry.
Associated Press movie writer David Germain said in a review that the film "obscures Theron's beauty but reveals a fearless actress," while The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan described "Monster" as "an OK movie made nearly great by one great thing: the bravura, mercilessly watchable performance of Charlize Theron."
The actress strikes a masculine swagger and a glaring combativeness as Wuornos, aided by sun-spotted makeup, false teeth that changed the shape of her face, almost invisible eyebrows and dark contact lenses that turned her eyes into impenetrable dark pools.
She also gained about 30 pounds to appear more fleshy, and twisted her voice into a low, twangy growl, but it's Theron's psychological interpretation of the character that has really earned her praise, including a Golden Globe nomination for best dramatic actress.
Theron said her physical transformation was part of getting under the skin of the character and feeling her insecurities and the rage they created.
"She didn't like her body. That's why I gained weight. I think everybody thinks that Aileen was fat, so that's why I got fat, and that wasn't the case," Theron said.
News footage of Wuornos and her death-row letters helped Theron craft her interpretation. "The interesting thing is I thought that I was working from the outside in. But it was completely the opposite," she said. "Once I started diving into the research and trying to understand her, all the physical aspects of her came from there."
She and the film's writer-director, Patty Jenkins, were invited to read some of the letters by Dawn Botkins, who had been friends with Wuornos since the two were 15-year-old high school dropouts in Troy, Mich.
After that, Theron said her intense preparation spent studying the real Wuornos made it almost like second nature to slip into the character.
"The closest thing I can relate it to is my years of being a ballerina: When you do the work, you can go and do the three-hour version of 'The Nutcracker' and not think about the steps and not count out the music, your body just kind of knows what to do," she said.
Theron has a tragic event from her own childhood - when her mother fatally shot her father in self-defense during a violent argument - but Theron said her own past had nothing to do with her decision to do "Monster," which highlights the abuse Wuornos endured throughout her life.
The actress said that incident from 1991, in which her mother was not charged, is something she would like people to ignore.
"There are things that people always want to think of as the defining stuff in your life and it's not the case," she said. "It happened 13 years ago. It's done. ... I hid it for a while as long as I could, and then it came out and I talked about it, which I didn't want to do. But I felt that if I maybe did that and was honest, people would just move on, but people haven't and it's really frustrating."
Shortly after filming on "Monster" was complete, Theron had to get back into shape for her next project, the romantic drama "Head in the Clouds," co-starring longtime boyfriend Stuart Townsend.
"When the end came near, it was extremely sad," she said of "Monster." "I knew I was going straight into ('Head in the Clouds') right afterward, and I was a little upset about it because I didn't know if I was even capable of doing that. But it happened for the right reason because I really had to go in and discipline myself straight-away."
Was it easy to jump back into physical shape?
"No," Theron said. "That's not how nature works."
