When those eyes rest on you, the pyramids seem to melt. Forget the noseless Sphinx, the manicured mummies and the unending Nile, Charlize Theron is the hottest thing in the house of sand and fog this November. The 10-day film festival in Cairo has hosted talent and beauty from all over the planet but She is special. A t2 tryst with Charlize...

It was Sunday. The venue was Sofitel El Gezirah hotel, where the Oscar-winning Monster star was to come and talk about her latest film Battle in Seattle, directed by ‘husband’ Stuart Townsend (they won’t officially exchange vows till same-sex marriages are legalised in the US).

She was, not surprisingly, late. But, surprisingly, she apologised. “I am sorry for being late...,” Charlize Theron announced, with Stuart on one side and Seattle co-star Martin Henderson on the other. “It’s all my fault... we were driving around and I couldn’t leave the beautiful sites. I almost couldn’t make it here!”

Wearing a dark brown gown and adjusting those gorgeous golden tresses once in a while, Charlize must have sensed that nerves were tingling and jangling all around her. So, she delivered a masterstroke. An Egyptian journalist had brought one of those very-touristy pyramid miniatures for the star. Charlize invited her up on the podium and gave her a big hug. “I am only accepting questions from people with gifts,” she smiled.

The battle in Cairo had been effortlessly won and gleefully lost without a single question being fired.

jokes apart

Winning the Battle in Seattle was a lot tougher, though. Charlize plays a pregnant woman struggling against the backdrop of the mass protest that happened in Washington against the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference in 1999. Of the many harrowing scenes in the very edgy film, there is one where Charlize’s Ella has to fight off protesters on the street to save her unborn child. Just like in many of her films, especially Monster, you wouldn’t recognise her as Charlize Theron.

“I like to transform... yes, the word transform sums up what is at the heart of the job and I enjoy my job,” said the 33-year-old actress. “I try to create that transformation every time I work. I love it... I love it.”

Helping herself to a glass of water, Charlize continued: “Film is a great medium to express. I think every day how to push the envelope even further. How to show pain, joy, the beautiful side of life, the ugly side of life, the truth, the greater truth.”

“And she would tell jokes and laugh before those shots!” Stuart chipped in.

For Charlize they were not just jokes. “Every actor has a process. I actually tell jokes between shots so as not to think about the shot. The less I think the more instinctional I feel, while the more I think, it becomes more mechanical. That’s why I act silly all the time. Of course, the process is different, every time. Sometimes, just wearing the shoes... it feels right. Some times one scene in the script sums up the entire film.”

what a Monster!

No chat with Charlize is complete without the Monster quiz. When t2 asked her about the role that changed the way we look at the South African stunner, she was ready to talk, and talk a lot. “There was something about the story of Aileen Wuornos (her character in Monster) that I got emotionally trapped into. Everyone knew her as crazy, evil, murderer... the press gave her all the labels. And while I am not justifying all the hideous and heinous things she did, there was a human being there that nobody looked at. How does somebody become Aileen Wuornos?”

To seek the answer to the question, Charlize spent two days with one of Aileen’s best friends. “She had all the letters that Aileen had written to her from prison. I wanted to read them but she didn’t want to send them over. So I flew down and spent two days in her living room reading those letters. The more I read them, the more empathy I felt for her. I felt I could understand her better.”

That understanding helped Charlize to win the one that matters — the Oscar. “I enjoyed the moment... It was a great moment,” she said about that special Kodak evening four-and-a-half years ago. “And I am extremely proud of it... being selected by my peers... Next morning, I knew I had to throw the garbage out and move on.”

Man AND mom

Moved on she sure has. Charlize has continued to challenge herself in films like The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, North Country, In the Valley of Elah and now, Battle in Seattle. The last one being all the more special, since it’s written and directed by Stuart, the man she’s been with for over five years now. “It’s very hard for me to speak of my director; people find my thoughts biased,” said Charlize. “But honestly, Mr Townsend is one of the best directors I have worked with.” Stuart chipped in again: “She is biased!”

This is not the first time that Stuart and Charlize have worked together, having done films like Trapped and Head in the Clouds. “Yes, we have done a few movies together... but for the first time he loved telling me what to do... loved it,” Charlize joked. “It doesn’t happen too often,” came the Stuart repartee. “That’s why I was beaten up in the film,” laughed the lovely actress.

And to think she wouldn’t have been here if not for a bad knee. “My mother sent me to learn ballet when I was four-and-a-half. I was very hyperactive as a child and my mother didn’t know what to do with me. I calmed down. When I was 19 and was seriously pursuing my career as a ballerina, I had to retire as a dancer because of my knees. I started searching for something to fill up the space. I started performing. My mother asked me to go and try in Hollywood. Now looking back, I think, she was ridiculous. But then, she was right.”

A montrous understatement?

A few of her films

The Devilís Advocate (1997) Charlize was the neglected wife of lawyer Keanu Reeves in the film that co-starred Al Pacino.

The Cider House Rules (1999) Charlize had Tobey Maguire for company in this Lasse Hallstrom film.

Men of Honor (2000) Charlize played a stellar role in this George Tillman Jr. film co-starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Waking Up In Reno (2002) Patrick Swayze and Charlize kicked up a storm in this romantic comedy about two couples travel- ling to Reno to see a monster truck show.

Monster (2003) Charlize trans- formed into prostitute-turned-murderer Aileen Wuornos for a once-in- a-lifetime role that got her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) Co-starring Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, it was based on the biography of the same name.

North Country (2005) A fictionalised account of the first major suc- cessful sexual harassment case in the United States, Charlize played Josey Aimes, a miner who endures abuse and stands up for her rights.

Aeon Flux (2005) Charlize played the title role in this film set 400 years into the future. As the mysterious assassin Aeon Flux, she was kickass.

Hancock (2008) A drop-dead gorgeous Charlize played an undercover superwoman to Will Smith's superhero.

What question would you have asked Charlize Theron?
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