Charlize Theron said she was sexually exploited in her early career (Getty Images)
Charlize Theron has said she was frequently told to wear clothing that would make look more “f****ble” in films.
She tells Harper’s Bazaar magazine in a new chat: “Having some guy make you have a fitting almost in front of them, stuff like that, it’s really belittling.
“When I started, there was no conversation around it. It was like, ‘This is what you’re wearing.’”
The Oscar winner said that there was one film she worked on where the male director made her do “fitting after fitting after fitting”.
Theron famously wore white lingerie in 1996 film Days In The Valley (Getty Images)
“It was just so obvious that it was to do with my sexuality and how f***able they could make me in the movie,” she said. “And when I started out, that was just kind of the norm.”
In one of her earliest films, 1996’s 2 Days In The Valley, she famously wore white lingerie.
In her breakthrough role in Taylor Hackford’s 1997 horror The Devil’s Advocate, in which she starred alongside Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino, she also donned lacy lingerie.
Theron (right) in her Oscar-winning role as Aileen Wuornos and Christina Ricci as Selby Wall in 2004’s Monster (PA)
It was only in the mid-2000s when she became one of Hollywood’s top actresses that she was able to ditch the sexy image and star in roles where she didn’t have to flash the flesh.
In 2004, the star won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the hit movie Monster.
In the Harper’s interview the actress also explained that she doesn’t feel she has much clout in the industry despite being a household name. “It [my career] just has always been a mediocre ride,” she claimed.
Despite being an Oscar winner, Theron laments that she doesn’t have the fame or clout in Hollywood the level of a Kim Kardashian (Getty Images)
“I’ve never been one of those people that’s at a Kim Kardashian level. But I feel like it’s just always been this thing.”
She also revealed it has become increasingly difficult for her to find financing for the movies she wants to make.
“I pitch s*** all day long and people are like, ‘No, thanks.’”