Charlize Theron Has A Humble (Yet Appreciative) Outlook On Her Fame That’s Not ‘Kim Kardashian Level’

On the surface, Charlize Theron appears to have no trouble locking down projects. She delivered the sleeper action hit The Old Guard (and has a sequel on the way), there’s the upcoming The School for Good and Evil (also for Netflix), her recurring role in the Fast and Furious films, and she surprised Marvel fans by landing the coveted role of Clea in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. But according to Theron, finding work is nowhere near as easy as it used to be. However, she’ll be the first to say that’s a good thing.

In a new cover feature for Harper’s Bazaar, Theron gets real about her level of fame and how being an “A-list star” is no longer enough in the new Hollywood landscape. That change has forced her to work smarter, not harder.

“I feel like I’m at a place where it is what it is,” Theron said. “Working more isn’t, I think, going to change my level of fame. It just has always been a mediocre ride. I’ve never been one of those people that’s at a Kim Kardashian level. But I feel like it’s just always been this thing.”

As Theron explains, her star power isn’t enough to greenlight projects anymore, and she actually prefers it that way. Via Harper’s Bazaar:

“I will say, back in the day, it used to be like, you want to have some of this fame so you can go make the shit that you really want to make,” she says. “But now it’s like, I pitch shit all day long and people are like, ‘No, thanks.’ I’m like, ‘I guess that’s not cash in the bank anymore.’ And that’s nice. It’s nice that you’re making things on the merit of how good they are versus this idea of, like, ‘Oh, you’re this thing, and we want to be in business with that thing.’ ”

Theron is also here for the recent changes in how actresses are being treated, particularly by male directors and producer. She’s on a mission to “create environments that feel like the things that I wish I had 30 years ago when I started.”

The School for Good and Evil starts streaming October 21 on Netflix.