Looks don't matter, says Charlize

Charlize Theron is a trifle peeved that people might think she is beautiful. 'I was fortunate to grow up in a house where beauty was never focused on,' she said.

'No one went: "Oh, you're so beautiful!" I was always raised and encouraged to challenge myself,' she added.

Charlize is a stunning-looking woman. She won a Best Actress Oscar last month for her extraordinary portrayal of American serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the movie Monster.

And she flatly refutes the suggestion that all she had to do was slap on some 'ugly' make-up, pile on 30 pounds, snap in false dentures and that was it.

'Anybody can make themselves ugly. Do you think the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences is going to give an award to somebody just because they made themselves ugly?

'Do you think Nicole Kidman just put on a fake nose and got an Academy Award? She was really f****** good in that movie! People forget the work, the performance.'

South African-born Charlize believes that part of the problem with working in movies today is that actors have become celebrities. 'Somewhere along the line we forgot what actors do. All of a sudden, somehow, the fashion industry crept into the movie industry. Celebrity has really taken over and over-shadowed what actors do.

'Actors aren't supposed to be beautiful; actors are supposed to tell human stories, but that kind of got lost.'

Charlize also gets really riled by the fact that people don't bat an eyelid when actors such as Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman tackle complex characters, but if a woman does, watch out.

I don't disagree with a single thing Charlize told me - but she's the one who hires a fashion consultant to dress her in a different frock every day, and she's the one who has chosen the life of a movie star, rather than that of an artist.

That said, I chatted with her after she won her Oscar. She was at the Governor's Ball, tucking into her fillet steak and believe me, it wasn't a beautiful sight - but it struck me as about the only moment I'd seen her be herself.

The real test for Charlize Theron will be to prove she's not in the Hilary Swank league of Oscar winners (as in 'whatever happened to . . .'). Let's hope that little golden statuette will be the making of her.

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