Charlize Theron may have conquered Hollywood and collected countless accolades along the way, but the Oscar-winning actress says her proudest role by far is being a mother to her two daughters. The 50-year-old star, who recently took a swipe at Timothée Chalamet, delighted fans on Monday by sharing a series of rare family photos featuring her adopted daughters, Jackson, 14, and August, 11, offering a touching glimpse into their close-knit bond.
Marking Mother’s Day, Theron opened the heartfelt carousel with a serene snap aboard a boat, wrapping her arms lovingly around her two girls as the trio soaked up the sunshine together. Another sweet image captured the family flashing radiant smiles in a sun-drenched selfie. The post also included treasured throwback photos before ending on a playful note, with Theron pulling a hilarious face beside August in a cheeky final selfie.
She captioned the carousel: 'The greatest honor of my life! Happy mother’s day to all moms, oumas and godmothers.'
A Painful Past
The heartwarming family reveal comes just weeks after the actress opened up about one of the most traumatic chapters of her life, candidly reflecting on the night her mother fatally shot her father in self-defense at their South African home. In an interview with The New York Times, the actress opened up about the terrifying night in 1991 when her father, Charles Theron, shot up their family home - forcing her mother, Gerda Jacoba Aletta Maritz, to step in and protect them.
While reflecting on the traumatic ordeal, Theron admitted she once believed she and her mother were alone in experiencing something so horrific. 'I never knew about a story like that,' she said. 'When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people.' Theron went on to say that the kind of domestic violence she and her mother endured 'should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone,' before adding: 'I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore.'
Kids Unimpressed by Oscar
The interview comes after Theron showed off her lighter side by joking that Jackson and August have ‘zero respect’ for her Hollywood career - regardless of how many awards she’s racked up over the years. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the star got hilariously candid when asked if her kids were impressed by her career. Laughing towards the audience, she said: 'My children have zero respect for me. I don't know how, it's just unbelievable.'
'I feel like I'm pretty humble, but every once in a while I'm like there's a f*****g Oscar right there.' The audience and Jimmy erupted into laughter as she added: 'No, they're so not impressed with me.' Charlize became the first South African to win an acting Oscar when she picked up the Best Actress gong for 2003 drama, Monster.
Recalling picking up her daughter the day before, she explained: 'I was picking up my youngest from dance yesterday and we drove past that new Mission Impossible poster, where Tom Cruise is hanging onto some like yellow plane. And he just looks really cool, and my kids were with me when I shot Old Guard 2, and I worked on this incredibly intricate sequence where we brought in this amazing helicopter pilot, Fred North, and we were gonna choreograph this incredible scene.'
'Like me fighting helicopters and jumping on this real helicopter and hanging off and shooting like 99 per cent of it on a real helicopter, as it's like trying to shake me off like a ragdoll, and we took two weeks to shoot this sequence. And I was like, "Wow, I just did that" That's really amazing. And my child yesterday, just looked at this poster of Tom Cruise and went "That's weird, he looks so much cooler than you did when you were hanging off that helicopter."' She laughed, adding: 'I was just like, "but I hung off the helicopter, like just some credit."'
Adoption Always First Choice
Charlize's motherhood journey began when she adopted Jackson in 2012 and daughter August in 2015. Her appearance on the show comes after she opened up to PEOPLE in 2018 about her decision to adopt children and shared how it was always a top priority for her. She explained that she was largely inspired by her own upbringing in South Africa, which exposed her to orphanages and children in need in her community at a young age.
She told the publication: 'Even when I was in relationships, I was always honest with my partners, that adoption was how my family would look one day. The star added: 'This was definitely not a second option for me. It was always my first.' In November 2023, Charlize spoke candidly with the publication about being a single mum. She said: '(Being) a parent in general is hard, when you’re in it, you're like, "I'm never going to survive this." And then you get to the other side, you're like, "Oh my God, this is amazing. I can’t believe I did that."'
Charlize's first public relationship was with actor Craig Bierko, whom she dated from 1995 to 1997. She was then in a three-year relationship with singer Stephan Jenkins until October 2001. Charlize then began a relationship with Irish actor Stuart Townsend in 2001 after meeting him on the set of Trapped. The couple lived together in Los Angeles and Ireland before splitting up in late 2009. But in December 2013, the actress began dating American actor Sean Penn; however, their relationship ended in June 2015. Reports emerged at the time that the pair were engaged, which Charlize strongly denied, adding that the relationship had ended before it ever became serious.
