Reason Three: She doesn’t let failure bring her down…in fact, she seems better for it
Not only were her childhood and teen years in South Africa not a picnic, Theron faced other challenges that she rarely showcased – and dwelled on. She had to give up on a dream of becoming a prima ballerina due to a serious knee injury. Sure, it, in essence, became a catalyst in her soon-to-emerge acting career – and subsequent movie stardom, but her road to that was not all roses and butterflies.
Her love life, admittedly, is another area of Theron’s life that has not been an easy path to navigate.
She’s had several long term relationships, the longest of which was a relationship that Theron herself equated to marriage (though she has vowed to never marry traditionally) with actor Stuart Townsend, that lasted 10 years and ended in 2010. Since then, she’s had a string of are-they-or-aren’t-they maybe-ships with fellow actors, namely Keanu Reeves and Alexander Skarsgård. Her highly publicized relationship with Sean Penn garnered a lot of attention, both positive and negative.
Past or future relationships aside, Theron is a mom first. A single mother to two children she’s adopted from her home country of South Africa, she puts son Jackson, 5, and daughter August, 2, first.
