Charlize Theron Explains How Turning Down ‘Wonder Woman’ Gave Her Perspective On Hollywood Ageism

At age 43, no one on the planet would say that Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron is old. Not only is 43 a young age, but the actress is also clearly still one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. But we’re not talking about the real world, are we? We’re talking about the film industry. And as revealed in a recent interview about “Wonder Woman,” Theron shows that by Hollywood standards, she’s officially moving into a new category of roles.

If you really think about it, Charlize Theron could have been a really great Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in the 2017 Warner Bros. film. Obviously, now it’s difficult to imagine anyone but Gal Gadot in the role, but it’s clear that WB would have likely pleased plenty of fans if the studio chose Theron. And in fact, it appears that Theron was discussing the possibility of working on the film, but not as the titular character.

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“I did not turn the role of Wonder Woman down,” said Theron, in an interview on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.” “This is a great of example of how Hollywood slaps you in the face when you start aging.”

She continued, “So somebody had said to me, ‘Oh, there’s action on this thing, ‘Wonder Woman’ — we just want to make you aware of it.’ And I was like, ‘I’m just not familiar with it … I mean, what does Wonder Woman do?’ And this person said, ‘No, it’s for Wonder Woman’s mom.’ [Laughs]”

Obviously, that makes for a humorous story, if not a little upsetting for the actress. But Theron says that she has moved on from it.

“It was fine,” she added. “It was just the defining moment where I crossed over [with age]. And I wasn’t fully aware of it.”

Just for reference, and a bit of perspective, Gadot is 34-years-old, making her only 9 years the junior of Theron. So, perhaps the age difference means a lot to Hollywood, but in actuality, is fairly small. The studio ended up going with Connie Neilsen, who is 53-years-old, and is probably more appropriate in terms of age than Theron.

Of course, Theron hasn’t been relegated to only “mom” roles, despite her great performance in the recent film “Tully.” She can be seen right now in theaters as the leading lady in a rom-com, “Long Shot.”