Charlize Theron was born in Benoni , a Transvaal mining town 25 kilometers from Johannesburg , Charles, of Dutch and French ancestry , 3 and Gerda of German origin . His mother tongue is Afrikaans , English being his second language. She is related to the Boer military leader , Daniel Johannes Theron (his great grand uncle).
Charlize grew up in a rural environment on her parents' farm, who owned a road construction company 4 , and learned xhosa from the family business.
At the age of 12, Charlize was sent to the National School Of The Arts in Johannesburg . She maintains her passion for dance, which she began practicing at age 6 with ballet classes . His performances delight his mother, who encourages her to develop her artistic talents. These positive experiences make returning home more difficult, as his family situation deteriorates. His father Charles gradually falls into alcoholism, and is more and more distant from his family. Then one day in 1991, while Charlize is back from school for the weekend, her mother Gerda suffers violence from her husband again, and killed by bullets in self-defense 5. No legal proceedings are initiated.
His mother, who has a positive influence in her life, 6 then enrolls her in a modeling contest. Charlize, then 16 , won the contest and flew to Italy to represent her country at the International New Model Today 7 . She wins again, which gives her the opportunity to become a professional model. She left school and flew to Milan , accompanied by her mother, to start her modeling career. Three months later, her mother Gerda returns to South Africa for her activities, while Charlize settles in Milan and travels across Europe for her work.
After a year working as a model, Charlize decided to indulge in her passion for ballet and enrolled at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York , while accepting a few photo shoots to finance her stay. After 8 months of classes, a knee injury forced her to give up on her dancing career. She then moves to Miami for a few months and continues modeling. But Charlize is not interested in the life of supermodel : she wants above all to develop her artistic talents.
