Charlize Theron's Transformation Through the Years in Photos

If there’s one actress who is willing to drastically alter her look for a role, it’s Charlize Theron. She shaved her eyebrows and wore fake teeth for Monster in 2003, buzzed off her hair for Mad Max: Road Fury in 2015 and curled and dyed her locks red for The School For Good and Evil in 2022. But Charlize’s makeovers aren’t limited to cosmetics — she’s also gained weight for a few movies, including Monster and Tully (2018). While it was once easy for her to shed those pounds afterward, she’s found it much harder to do so today and vowed never to gain weight for a role again.

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“I will never, ever do a movie again and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll gain 40 pounds.’ I will never do it again because you can’t take it off,” she told Allure in August 2023.

Keep scrolling to see Charlize Theron’s transformation through the years.

2003

The actress underwent her first major transformation for Monster, in which she played serial killer Aileen Wuornos. She shaved her eyebrows, wore contacts and prosthetic teeth and even gained 30 pounds. Charlize told Allure she “skipped three meals” and lost the weight very quickly when Monster was finished.

2009

Charlize also has other ways of maintaining her weight, including strict workouts and eating healthy. “I have juices and kale and green salads every day,” she once revealed. “When I’m eating healthily, getting enough sleep and not drinking alcohol, that’s when I look my best. That’s when I’m happiest and I think it shows.”

2018

Charlize gained weight once again — 50 pounds, to be exact — for Tully, but this time, it was more difficult to shed the pounds when the movie was finished. “I did it at 43 for Tully, and I remember a year into trying to lose the weight, I called my doctor and I said, ‘I think I’m dying because I cannot lose this weight,’” she told Allure. “And he was like, ‘You’re over 40. Calm down. Your metabolism is not what it was.’ Nobody wants to hear that.”

2023

Like many stars, Charlize has also been the subject of plastic surgery and face lift rumors. However, she assured that it’s just natural aging that changes her appearance, and she’s alright with that.

“My face is changing, and I love that my face is changing and aging,” she told Allure. “But people think I had a facelift. They’re like, ‘What did she do to her face?’ I’m like, ‘Bitch, I’m just aging! It doesn’t mean I got bad plastic surgery. This is just what happens.’”