Charlize Theron

Model

Born August 7, 1975 in Benoni, Gauteng, ZA

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a city in the greater Johannesburg-area, South Africa on August 7th, 1975. Charlize began her modeling career in 1991 aged 16 when she won a small modeling contest. She started modeling in Europe and went to New York City a year later. Charlize didn't like being a model and decided to try her luck with ballet, which had been her biggest passion as a child. Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented her from dancing. Her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 1994 and Charlize started visiting all of the agents on Hollywood Boulevard but without any luck. She went to the bank to cash a check for $500 she received from her mother and became furious when she learned the bank could not cash her check because it was an out of state check. She made a scene and an agent gave her his card, in exchange that she learn the language, which she did by watching soap operas on TV.