Charlize Theron is opening up about a dark period in her life which ended in her mother killing her alcoholic father in self-defense.
The 41-year-old actress recently recalled the horrific incident, which she says she pretended didn’t happen for many years.
“I just pretended like it didn’t happen. I didn’t tell anybody — I didn’t want to tell anybody. Whenever anybody asked me, I said my dad died in a car accident. Who wants to tell that story? Nobody wants to tell that story,” she said during an interview with Howard Stern.
“I didn’t want to feel like a victim. I struggled with that for many years until I actually started therapy,” Charlize explained, adding that she began to speak to a therapist in her late 20s.
According to Justjared Charlize says the therapist helped her understand how her alcoholic father’s unpredictability impacted her life, but thankfully she had her mother by her side for support.
“I have an incredible mother. She’s a huge inspiration in my life…Her philosophy was, ‘This is horrible. Acknowledge that this is horrible. Now make a choice. Will this define you? Are you going to sink or are you going to swim?’ That was it,” she concluded.