Charlize Theron tells of night her mother shot her father dead

Charlize Theron has discussed her mother's fatal shooting of her father in self-defence in 1991. Photo / Getty Images

Charlize Theron has spoken about the night her mother fatally shot her father in self-defence – describing how she once believed her family were “the only people” to experience such trauma.

The actor, 50, recalled the 1991 incident in an interview with The New York Times, reflecting on events that took place when she was 15 and living in South Africa with her mother, Gerda Jacoba Aletta Martiz, now in her 70s, and her father, Charles Theron.

She said the shooting followed an escalation at home after she and her mother returned from visiting a relative, and described her father’s anger and the events that led to the fatal confrontation.

Gerda was not charged as the shooting was ruled self-defence.

Theron said: “I think these things should be talked about because it makes other people not feel alone.”

She added: “I never knew about a story like that. When this happened to us, I thought we were the only people. I’m not haunted by this stuff anymore.”

Theron also described the moments before the confrontation, explaining she had run into the house without greeting her father.

She added: “I had to pee really badly. So I ran into the house to get to the toilet, and he took that as me being rude, because I didn’t stop and say hello to everybody.

“Big thing in South Africa, the kind of respect that you have to have for elders. “And he was in a state where he just spiralled. Like: ‘Why didn’t you stop? Who do you think you are?’”

Theron said she later went to her room, fearing further conflict.

She added: “I knew he was mad at me. So I said to [my mother], ‘When he eventually decides to come home, please tell him I’m asleep’.

“I went into my room, I turned my lights off, and I was scared.”

She went on: “My window faced the driveway, and I could tell the level of anger, frustration, or unhappiness by the way he drove in.”

Theron also said she “just knew something bad was going to happen”.

She described her father forcing entry and firing shots.

Theron said: “The two of us were holding the door with our bodies because there wasn’t a lock on it. He just stepped back and started shooting through the door.”

But she added: “Not one bullet hit us.”

Theron said her mother retrieved a firearm and responded.

She said: “The messaging was very clear: ‘I’m going to kill you tonight. You think I can’t come into this door? Watch me. I’m going to go to the safe. I’m going to get the shotgun.’”

She said her father and uncle, who had allegedly accompanied Charles, were both shot.

Theron added: “He walked to the safe, and my mom pulled the door open while the brother was still standing there.

“The brother ran down the hallway, and she shot one bullet down the hallway that ricocheted seven times and shot him in the hand. It’s stuff you can’t explain. And then she followed my father, who was by then opening the safe to get more weapons out, and she shot him.”

She said after the incident, her mother continued with daily life.

“The next morning she sent me to school. She was just like, ‘we’re going to move on’,” Theron said.

“Not necessarily the healthiest thing, but it worked for us.”