Charlize Theron Almost Turned Down Her Oscar-Winning Role in ‘Monster’: ‘I Didn’t Think I Could Do It’

It is arguably the most memorable role of her career, but Charlize Theron almost said no thank you to playing real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 film Monster.

“I didn’t think I could do it at first,” the 43-year-old told Marie Claire Australia. “The thing that convinced me ultimately was that I had never had — and I get emotional thinking about it — I never had somebody believe in me like that before. I was always the person who would go into audition after audition after audition and lay myself on broken glass and not get the part. And all of a sudden, this woman is sitting in front of me, and she’s like, ‘You have to. You’re the only person who can.’”

The A-lister revealed that she is still shocked that director Patty Jenkins believed she was the perfect fit for the part. “I was blown away by that,” the actress recalled. “It’s super emotional because I don’t think a lot of women get an opportunity like that … I feel like when you work with people who believe in you fully like that, if you have that kind of faith in me, I will do anything for you.”

Charlize went on to win an Academy Award for her performance, and the film received rave reviews. The Mad Max: Fury Road star went on to get nominated for an Oscar two years after her first win for her performance in North Country.

Today, Charlize has quite the slate of movies coming up, including playing Megyn Kelly. “Charlize won’t sugarcoat anything,” an insider recently told In Touch Weekly — adding that the women have already been in contact so that Charlize could get a feel for the former Today host’s personality.

“She’ll play Megyn as the tough-as-nails ice queen that she is,” the source explained.

We can’t wait to see what other fantastic roles await Charlize!