Charlize Theron’s efficiency in “The Satan’s Advocate,” by which she performs a personality haunted and tortured by demonic spirits, completely stands out. There’s one scene, specifically, that made Patty Jenkins notice Theron can be excellent to play Aileen Wuornos. “It was this excessive closeup of Charlize with crimson eyes, all puffy, and snot popping out of her nostril, which is so unvain,” Jenkins advised the Toronto Star. “And I simply seemed on the TV and mentioned, ‘Charlize might do it.'”
The bodily transformation that Theron underwent to play Wournos convincingly is now the stuff of Hollywood legend, however Jenkins acknowledged her potential effectively earlier than that. Reportedly, Kate Winslet and Brittany Murphy have been additionally within the function, so Jenkins began feeling assured that she might go for her superb alternative first. “I mentioned, okay, now it’s important to get a no from Charlize earlier than I can select someone else.” Seeing the candy, doomed chemistry between Theron and Christina Ricci within the completed movie, it is laborious to think about one other performer giving Wuornos that sort of pathos whereas additionally feeling just a little bit harmful.
Jenkins wasn’t conscious of Theron’s personal childhood trauma on the time, however she noticed one thing that nobody else did. “There are individuals who know the darkness, and individuals who do not,” Jenkins mentioned. “There aren’t plenty of actresses in Hollywood, I feel, who’ve that in them. That understanding. That depth.” Theron reached a completely new echelon within the appearing world after “Monster,” coming off a efficiency that legendary critic Roger Ebert referred to as “one of many best performances within the historical past of the cinema.” One solely hopes that Jenkins ultimately returns to her roots as an indie filmmaker and finds one thing that speaks to her as deeply as Aileen’s story did.
