Charlize Theron covers TOWN & COUNTRY’s Annual November 2023 Philanthropy Issue. The issue spotlights this year’s distinguished group of entertainers, thought leaders, business tycoons and activists who are currently shifting the philanthropic landscape.
On South Africa and how her heart remains in her home country: “It’s not that I’m biased because I’m from there. It is one of those places that’s truly, truly special. You can ask anybody who has ever been. I’ve never not heard somebody talk that way about the country.” … After Theron moved to the U.S. in the 1990s, her acting career skyrocketed following breakout roles in 2 Days in the Valley and The Devil’s Advocate. Yet, she says, “I wanted to still be a part of my country in a proactive way, and so I was looking at how I could be of service.”
On how growing up in South Africa in the 1980s, amid the onset of the AIDS epidemic—which still grips the country today—was traumatic for her: “I was around 10 years old, and people around me were dying and scared,” she recalls. “We now know that it was HIV and AIDS, but not a lot of people had that information then. It left an impression on me from a young age that has always been hard to shake.”
On founding the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Program in 2007: Theron says she quickly realized that they [mobile health clinics] were “a drop in the bucket.” Many factors were driving the AIDS pandemic; she and her colleagues would need to expand CTAOP’s mission to include wider education and health initiatives. The prospect of expansion was daunting. “It’s a pretty high mountain to stare at, and the shadow is pretty dark,” Theron says. “But if you’re not brave enough to go in there with people who can guide you and really be the ones with the solution, change just doesn’t happen.”
On launching the #TogetherForHer initiative to combat pandemic-era violence in Africa and globally: During the 2020 Covid lockdowns, Theron’s program partners reported back that gender-based violence was drastically escalating: “People were being asked to stay at home with their abusers,” Theron says. “There was a femicide happening in South Africa, and nobody was really talking about it.” The organization—and Theron personally—quickly committed half a million dollars to the effort, and helped galvanize such Hollywood A-listers as Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, and Salma Hayek Pinault to support the initiative.
On how certain traumatic events in her upbringing impacted her: When she was 15, Theron herself was a victim of gender-based violence. At her family’s farm in Benoni, her father drunkenly threatened her and her mother with a gun. In self-defense Theron’s mother shot and killed him in front of their daughter. Theron demurs when asked if this traumatic event spurred her commitment to combating violence against women. “I would say this: It’s a simple correlation to make,” she says. “But I think it’s way more complicated than having just one night of trauma in your life. With or without that, gender-based violence is so in your face in South Africa and globally. It’s hard to not be aware of these things just purely by being a woman.” The greater formative trauma, she adds, “was growing up in a country under apartheid and having AIDS come. Those things really, really marked me—I almost want to say more than just that one night in my life.”
On finding the right partners: “Anybody can think they can throw a fundraiser,” Theron says. But getting the right people in the room who are willing to make long-term investments in the organization and its partners is another thing altogether. “That’s what we at CTAOP are really invested in, and it takes years to home in on.” Among her supporters: Dior, for which Theron is the face of J’Adore Parfum d’Eau; and Breitling SA, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, for which Theron is a longstanding spokesperson.
On how she maintains that she is uncomfortable being the face of the organization that she created a decade and a half ago: “I need to get the Charlize Theron part out of our organization’s name. Because, honestly, we have an incredible team, here and on the ground. They’re doing a part of the job that I could never do, right? This truly is something that we’ve all built together.”
[Photo Credit: Sebastian Kim for Town & Country Magazine]
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