Charlize Theron’s ‘The Burning Plain’ Is All About Demons

She has won an Oscar for a part that had her pile on the pounds and hide her best features, making her almost unrecognizable even for diehard fans, but most of the parts Charlize Theron picks are intimately connected to her personal life. Speaking with the Daily Mail on the occasion of the premiere of her latest film, “The Burning Plain,” the 33-year-old actress admits that it might have been her father’s death by the hand of her mother that has made her relate to her character Sylvia.

Not many fans might be aware of this, but Charlize actually comes from a broken home, where her alcoholic, abusive father was shot dead by her own mother, when she was just 15 years old. Although she has moved on since then, this personal tragedy did change her life.

Eventually, an actress that could portray inner drama stemming from personal tragedy was what director Guillermo Arriaga was also looking for the part of Sylvia in “The Burning Plain.” Thus, he thought of Charlize.

“The theme of the film is forgiveness, redemption, guilt and self-love. It deals with realizing who we are through death. I am lucky to be in a job where I get to explore things that might resemble my own life or issues. And there’s something cathartic about playing a damaged person.” Charlize says of the part and of the way she relates to her onscreen character.

“I think we all run away to a certain extent and I think it’s human nature for us not to want to deal with our demons or our dark side. In the film, Sylvia has a defining moment in her life, but there are not a lot of similarities between me and Sylvia. She has chosen a life of complete disconnection and I’ve never done that.” the actress further explains.

Nevertheless, Theron refuses to have her entire life pinned down to just this accident, which a judge later ruled was just self-defense. At 33, the actress shares, she likes to believe her life is more than just this sensational story, which is why she does not like to dwell on the subject.

“For me this thing happened so long ago and I just really wish people could move on from it. I don’t live in the past. When I read headlines about me saying ‘When she was 15 her mother shot her father’ it’s very sensational for me. It happened 18 years ago. Since then I’ve had a complete, full life and, my God, if I’ve been living the past 18 years in the past because of one event that happened in my life someone, should put a gun to my head and put me out of my misery because that’s a waste of my life. I am 33 and I have had a much bigger life than that one event.” Charlize points out.

“The Burning Plain” starring Charlize Theron opens in the UK today, but it will not reach the US until September 2009.