I watched Fast and Furious 8 yesterday and Chalize Theron stars as the main villain. This got me thinking about how strikingly beautiful Charlize is and then I remembered her stunning transformation in the film "Monster" and how I believe it was one of the best movies of 2003.
Charlize, it is reported, intentionally gained 30 pounds (I did that by accident one year, maybe i should be in movies), shaved her eyebrows, and wore fake teeth for this film. This normally incredibly-lovely woman transformed herself into, as the title would suggest, a Monster of a person.
Theron plays the role of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos who killed 7 people in the late 80's and early 90's. The people she killed were all customers as she was a prostitute at the time. While most film stars have a maybe somewhat of a resemblance to the actual person they are portraying. Charlize's transformation is uncanny.
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side-by-side comparison of the two
The reason why she kills these men was a means to make money to support herself and her girlfriend, Selby Wall. Selby is played by Christina Ricci in the film but Selby is not an actual person. The real girlfriend was named Tyria Moore and was a maid at a hotel. I don't know why they decided to completely change who the girlfriend was in the film, but i am sure they have their reasons.
Despite the fact that the main character is obviously a horrible and mentally unstable person, you can't help but sympathize with her throughout the film. This might have something to do with Charlize's incredible portrayal of a deeply disturbed tough girl who is a bit of a softy when it comes to certain aspects of life such as the pursuit of acceptance, friendship, and love.
This movie is quite old and even though it made $60 million at the box office (due largely to renewed interest post-award ceremony) there are a ton of people out there that haven't seen it. I strongly recommend you do so as it is likely in my top 20 of all time film experiences.