‘I knew something bad was going to happen’: Charlize Theron recalls the terrifying night her mother shot her father dead
The actress was just 15 when her drunken father broke into their home and started shooting - so her mum shot him first.
Charlize Theron has spoken out about one of the most terrifying nights of her life – the night her mother killed her father in self-defence.
The actress, now 50, was just 15 years old when her mum Gerda shot and killed her dad Charles in 1991. In a deeply personal new interview with the New York Times, Charlize opened up about what really happened that night.
She described her dad as a “full-blown functioning drunk” who was often violent and aggressive at home. On the night in question, he had been drinking and was furious at Charlize for not stopping to greet family members when they visited her uncle’s house.
“He was in a state where he just spiralled. Like: ‘Why didn’t you stop? Who do you think you are?’” she recalled.
When they got home, Charlize turned off her lights and hid in her bedroom, asking her mum to tell her dad she was asleep. She said she could always tell how angry he was by the way he pulled into the driveway.
“I just knew something bad was going to happen,” she said.
“He started shooting through the door. It was very clear – he was going to kill us,” she recalled.
Her father broke into the house and began shooting through doors. Gerda ran to the safe to grab her own gun, then rushed back to Charlize’s bedroom.
With no lock on the door, the two held it shut with their bodies – but he shot straight through it.
Gerda then pulled the door open. Her father’s brother fled down the hallway and was hit in the hand when a bullet ricocheted. Gerda followed Charles to the safe, where he was reaching for more weapons, and shot him dead.
The next day, Charlize was sent to school. No big conversation, no breakdown – just the message that life goes on. Gerda was never charged and the shooting was ruled self-defence.
Charlize says she is no longer haunted by what happened, and hopes talking about it openly will help others feel less alone.
“I think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone,” she said.
