Charlize spent her childhood on the East Rand of Johannesburg in the town of Benoni where she charmed all with her grace, beauty and vivid imagination. An accomplished ballet dancer, she ventured into modelling, winning the Rooi Rose Model van die Jaar award in 1991. A month later, she scooped the International Model of the Year title in Milan. Despite her natural beauty and statesque figure, work didn't exactly come streaming in, so she took her chances in the Big Apple where she danced at the Joffrey Ballet School and dabbled in modelling. A knee injury put an end to her ballet career, and she headed for Los Angeles where she was famously discovered by an agent (Rene Russo's agent) when she threw a tantrum in a bank.

Within eight months she was acting and since then Charlize has became one of South Africa's hottest exports. She has appeared in 22 movies in eight years, working with such Hollywood stars as Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith. Her stunning good looks earned her a place in People magazine's '50 Most Beautiful people in the World in 2000 and it's been said that "She's a remarkable woman with 40's panache, '50s innocence, '90s street smarts and 21st-century cool". Can't argue that.

Woody Allen said of Charlize: "She's so hot that if she was in this room, your buttons would melt", and SA film critic Barry Ronge described her as "logged into the essence of what a movie star should be - I love her spunk and energy, the drive that's taken her from where she was to one of Hollywood's hottest young stars". Her Legend of Bagger Vance director Robert Redford says: "She has all the elements of what creates a lasting actress. She's ambitious, she's got looks, she's talented, intelligent, fiercely tough on herself without letting the insecurity dominate."

Her star has continued to rise, but now shining brighter than ever with her performance in Monster. Her startlingly brilliant portrayal of serial killer/prostitute Aileen Wuornos has earned her a string of awards, including a Golden Globe, Berlin Silver Bear and Screen Actor's Guild award and of course the Oscar. For her role she gained 30 pounds and underwent a laborious daily makeup routine to play American 'white trash' murderer Aileen Wuornos.

The New York Daily News wrote about Charlize's performance: 'This is no circus-stunt performance. Theron not only transforms herself, she takes on the swaggering mannerisms, juiced-up anxiety and pent-up-rage speech patterns in this role of a lifetime.

Two years ago Barry Wronge wrote in Fairlady: "The world now knows that Theron is gorgeous and most people agree she can act. All she has to do now is show us that she can exceed even her own great achievements by trusting her own talent and holding out for that one amazing rod that will turn her into something more than just Charlize Theron." And that's exactly what she has done.

As she herself said to Ruda Landman during a recent Carte Blance interview: "I think that we have forgotten what actors do. A friend of mine and another actor said that actors were confusing the world of film for the world of fashion all of a sudden we’ve gotten so caught up in the celebrity world that we’ve forgotten that actors are supposed to transform and tell stories. That’s part of the job."

Charlize's Filmography: 22 films in 8 years