After climbing the Hollywood ladder to become one of the hottest A-list actresses on the planet, Charlize Theron can do it all. Whether it was drama in The Astronaut’s Wife, action in The Italian Job, or her stunning portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster, even her role as animated-to-live-action sci-fi hottie Aeon Flux, Charlize Theron has certainly diversified her big screen portfolio. Now Theron takes both the producing and acting reigns in Sleepwalking, a drama about an 11-year old girl’s struggle to deal with abandonment by her mother. At the recent junket for Sleepwalking, Theron was more than happy to talk about playing a single mother, working with young up-and-comer AnnaSophia Robb, producing the movie, and what it’s like to be able to finally vote as an American citizen.

Charlize Theron on whether she had maternal instincts toward AnnaSophia Robb:

“I don’t think it’s maternal. Anna and I became really great pals and she has a great mom and a great father. So she really doesn’t need any more parents, she’s good on that front. We just became really good friends and I didn’t want to set out to become that for her, I wanted to be a good friend and somebody she felt safe with. I wanted to create an environment for her where she felt she could go and do the best work and encourage her. It was more of that kind of relationship; she’s very mature and has really got a good head on her shoulders. In many ways I think I learned more from her than she did from me.”

Theron on playing a single mother:

“I didn’t really reference anything in particular. I talked a lot to Anna about circumstance, which is something I believe in, and that you can take any kind of relationship and throw it in three kinds of circumstance and it will turn out completely different. We tried to always come from a place that wasn’t one dimensional, because I didn’t believe that this was a one dimensional relationship. It’s just too complicated to have a single mom and to have a little girl that’s on the cusp of becoming a woman. You know, turning thirteen. All of those things kind of played into the relationship and more than anything I think we always talked about being incredibly truthful. I wanted her to be fearless in how she reacted to me because I thought a little girl who grew up in that surrounding would be, especially with a mom like Joleen who’s become very aggressive in some sense. She’s in so much denial as to how much pain she’s in, so it had to ring true for her to behave a certain way, which when she’s sitting and going through the magazine and giving me lip. We wanted that the feel authentic because somebody in that circumstance at that age would kind of give her mom lip and it had to be truthful. I think that’s my goal always - whatever the scene is, whatever the moment, or wherever were heading in the story - is to be as truthful as possible.”

On the creative expression in herself to be able to bring out the best in other people:

“I love actors and I knew that the reason I emotionally tapped into the story is because it was very much a performance piece. It was very much reliant on the actor carrying the emotional story and a lot of that relied on Anna. In many ways the only time I really truly kind of threw myself into it was once I met Anna and I knew she was willing to come onboard, she was the girl to do it. As an actor I have a true understanding of how far you can really go is really up to the actor, and when you’re dealing with someone as young as Anna it’s tricky because you can’t just kind of look to an adult and go, ‘That’s not good, let’s go deeper, go darker.’ And it’s tricky with someone as young as Anna, unless they have a clear understanding of what the job is and Anna really understands what it is to be an actor. And more than that, [she] really wants to be a great actress. I don’t think there’s a part of her that thinks of herself as a child actor or anything like that. She wants to be challenged and she wants to be a s good a she possibly can be. So I’m like that and I would look at her sometimes and I would push her and it wasn’t always nice, you know, on the day. But at the same time, I would always say to her when we were done, ‘You’re gonna be really happy because you went all the way and you can sit in the theater and watch this movie and know that you went all the way.’ Anna brings something that’s great already, as a foundation, and then there’s this great willingness of hers that she wants to be pushed. She wants to go as far as she wants to go.”

On her inspiration while growing up:

“I had a great mom. I have a great mom, I’m having dinner with her tonight and I’m sure she’ll kick my ass. I have a very good and healthy relationship with my mom and that started from the time I could have memory. She was just incredibly encouraging. I mean I think there was something about her that had this air that whatever it is, go for it. If I didn’t want to do it, she would say, ‘Well, if you don’t want to do it then you have to call the guitar teacher and tell them you’re not coming for the next class.’ So I would have to call the guitar teacher and say I don’t want to do this anymore. There was this kind of independence that was given to me at a very young age.”

Theron on her work as a producer:

“I think the reason why I like producing is because for me it’s very creative. I mean, I’m fascinated by the business side and I’m fascinated by gap financing and how these intricate ways to finding financing and putting movies together and all of the wonderful places like Regina, Saskatchewan where we filmed this, and you get great incentives and things like that. But at the same time, it’s a creative experience for me because everything you do as a producer leads to telling the story the best way that you possibly can. I think that’s the thing that drives me.”

Charlize Theron on the American political race now that she can legally participate in the vote:

“I looked when I couldn’t vote. Definitely, there’s no way you can live in a country - and I’ve lived in this country for a long time now - I feel very much at home here and this is my home, so I definitely have an opinion and I’m definitely watching the race very closely. I’m a Barack [Obama] supporter. I really like what this guy has to say and I know there’s this whole question of experience. But I think when you look in the past at all of the great leaders that we’ve had, I think I’d go with the guy with the least experience, but the one that actually wants to cause some real change. And I think there’s something really inspiring and infectious about him.”

Source: thedeadbolt.com