The onscreen improvement Theron is most understood for is her descent into the most affordable depths of the human experience to play real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Patty Jenkins‘ 2003 movie, an efficiency that made her the Academy Award for Best Actress.
“We never discussed it like this big thing, like some aim—’We’re gonna gain 30 pounds,'” Theron described to SplicedWire, keeping in mind how Wuornos had actually matured homeless and brought to life a kid at 13. “It wasn’t about getting fat. Aileen wasn’t fat. Aileen carried scars on her body from her lifestyle, and if I’d gone to make this movie with my body—physically I’m very athletic—I don’t know that I would have felt the things Aileen felt with her body. It was about getting to a place where I felt closer to how Aileen was living. I didn’t want to look at my body and see my natural muscle. That kind of thing would have thrown me off completely in trying to be her.”
She avoided a wig in favor of hair stylist Katie Swanson traumatic Theron’s own hairs to attain Wuornos’ uncared-for head of hair and had her eyebrows bleached and thinned to practically absolutely nothing.
Though it might appear she’s using a full-on mask of plastic, the only prosthetics were on Theron’s eyelids to make them much heavier, and the entire procedure took a little less than an hour. Makeup artist Toni G airbrushed layers of clear washes of tattoo ink, texturized with green marble sealant, to offer Theron’s deal with a weather-beaten, hard-life appearance, and Art Sakamoto crafted dentures loaded with stained, jagged teeth. She likewise used brown contacts to cover her blue eyes.
“By the time we started the makeup and hair tests, we’d gotten so utilized to my [Aileen] face,” Theron shown Winfrey in 2005. “I stayed in it most of the time while I was on set. I would wear Aileen’s clothes all the time, have my hair the way she would, so the crew really got to know me as Aileen.”
As for her weight, “I just thought, ‘I’ll see how much I can gain,'” she stated. Luckily, the procedure started “over Christmas, so it was perfect. I finished everybody’s desserts.”
