Actress. Born August 7, 1975 in Benoni, South Africa. Theron grew up on her parents' farm in rural South Africa and began taking ballet lessons at the age of six. After attending boarding school in Johannesburg to study dance, she took a few modeling jobs before moving to New York to dance with the Joffrey Ballet. In 1995, a career-ending knee injury resulted in a move to Los Angeles to try her luck as an actor.
In 1996, Theron received both exposure and critical praise for her first film, Two Days in the Valley. The film proved to be a stepping stone for the young actress, who landed subsequent roles as Keanu Reeves' wife in The Devil's Advocate and Trial and Error, both in 1997. In 1998, Theron was cast as a perpetually aroused supermodel in Woody Allen's Celebrity, and earned her first starring role in Disney's remake of Mighty Joe Young.

In 1999, she landed a string of roles in notable films, including The Astronaut's Wife opposite Johnny Depp and the critically acclaimed The Cider House Rules with Tobey Maguire. In 2001, she reteamed with Reeves for the weepy and romantic Sweet November. Two years later, she starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in the heist thriller The Italian Job. In 2004, Theron received an Academy Award for her performance in Monster, a biopic of serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

Off screen, Theron as been coupled with actor Craig Bierko and Third Eye Blind vocalist Stephan Jenkins.