Charlize Theron recently spoke to The New York Times and called out a Hollywood double standard when it comes to action movies. The Oscar winner, who has been fronting action movies since 2005’s “Æon Flux,” said studios often give female actors just one shot to have an action movie hit. When it comes to men, however, they can have a box office flop but still land multiple follow-up projects.
“Yeah, it’s harder. That’s known,” Theron said when asked about gender disparity in the action genre. “Action films with female leads don’t get greenlit as much as the ones with male leads. I think the thing that always frustrates me is the fact that guys will get a free ride.”
“When women do this and the movie maybe doesn’t hit fully, they don’t necessarily get a chance again,” she continued. “With this, we were very aware that eyes were on us. It’s not a risk that studios want to take, but they’ll take it many times on the same guy who might have a string of action movies that did not do so well.”
Theron is currently headlining Netflix’s action sequel “The Old Guard 2.” It’s her latest action role after the likes of “Atomic Blonde” and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” among others. She told The Times her commitment to her action roles has left her body worn out.
“I run into people and they’re like, ‘Oh, what happened to your arm?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, I just had surgery.’ And they’re like, ‘The last time I saw you, you had surgery!’” Theron said. “I had an unfortunate injury on the first action attempt I ever did, for a bad movie called ‘Aeon Flux.’ On day nine, I did a back handspring, and I didn’t get enough height, and I landed on my neck on a concrete bridge. I had the last surgery on my neck 18 years ago. I’ve had surgery on both elbows, my right shoulder, my thumb, carpal tunnel, fractures. A lot of fractures.”
Theron hangs off a flying helicopter in “The Old Guard 2,” which she told Variety is a new highlight of her action movie career.
“We did it towards the end, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, if I pull this off, I’m gonna be okay with never doing a stunt again,’” Theron said. “That didn’t last long, but it was intricate. It was psychological. The first two weeks of it was sitting down with the pilot and building trust. It was slow moves. But by the end, I was hanging off a helicopter, so who cares?”
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“The Old Guard 2” is now streaming on Netflix.
From Variety US