Charlize: Hollywood saved me
2008-01-15 21:12
Los Angeles - Charlize Theron would have been "in therapy" if she weren't an actress.
The Monster star claims Hollywood has saved her from a lifetime of counselling following her highly traumatic childhood.
The 32-year-old actress said: "It is incredibly cathartic to be able to go to work and deal with your demons."
"It really helps me cope with a lot of things in my life and that's such a great blessing. I always said that if I didn't have this job I probably would be in therapy."
The South African actress - who stars opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon in the new movie In the Valley of Elah - watched her mother Gerda shoot her abusive father Charles dead at the family's Johannesburg home when she was just 15 years old.
'I heard a number of shots'
Charlize said in her official police statement: "My father said he would shoot us both dead with his shotgun. My mother said she was afraid he would kill us."
"The next moment I heard a number of shots. Then I heard her screaming."
"When I went into the passage, I saw my father's brother standing. My mother was sitting in a corner of the bedroom."
"My mother wept and said, 'Charlize, I've shot him.' Then I saw the body of my father."
Gerda was never prosecuted over the shooting. - Bang Showbiz.com