Earlier this week, EW.com caught up with Charlize Theron, who was in Park City promoting Sleepwalking, a drama in which she plays the unstable, absentee mother of a 12-year-old girl (Bridge to Terabithia's AnnaSophia Robb). Theron also served as a producer on the film, just as she did on 2003's Monster, the dark drama for which she won a Best Actress Oscar. The thoughtful star shared her feelings about how she chooses her roles, the ways in which women are portrayed in movies, and whether her increasing workload behind the camera may one day include directing.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your emotional connection to the material?
CHARLIZE THERON: I think as an actor you're incredibly emotionally attached. Maybe it's me. I've been incredibly lucky in that I was able to go and do this movie I really wanted to go and do. When I started out, I was more than willing to pay my dues and just get out there — you just kinda get yourself out there. And, you know, from the first film I did, 2 Days in the Valley, from there on out, it's been a choice I've really wanted to make. So I've always been emotionally attached to the material. And I guess when I'm producing I feel more of a responsibility because I'm taking somebody's money. But it's not like there's an emotional scale.

What specifically resonated with you about this character?
I've never been driven by box office. When people say, ''What's your favorite kind of role to do?'' I don't have anything like that in my head.

Are there general themes that intrigue you in the movies you choose?
The only correlation in all of it would have to be the human condition. I'm fascinated by it. By how cruel we can be and how hopeful we can be. I'm also fascinated by the extremities that we as humans put ourselves through. I just finished a film with Will Smith called Hancock. And I'm sure people assume I did it because it's a big Will Smith movie. But again why I did it is that it deals with the human condition in an interesting way. And flawed people. I should just say ''real people.'' Because we're all flawed. And here's the irony: I would love to do a comedy. It's not like I'm running away from them or anything. I am obviously not on the top 10 list of actresses to go out to. And I don't really want to go do a B-comedy just for the sake of doing a comedy. And hopefully now that I'm producing I can develop my own material.

Oftentimes, you play flawed women.
I think it's interesting that women, by nature, are way more conflicted than men. This is, like, fact. And yet we don't get those characters. I realized when I made Monster, the reaction was so strong because, in Hollywood terms, that should have been Robert De Niro. That's the kind of role Robert De Niro would get — the guy that's not really a good guy. He does really f---ed up things. But at the same time, you see him as a human being. I think those roles are incredibly rare for women. And you can't really just blame Hollywood because Hollywood is just making what society wants. In our society, we don't want to see our women that way. We want to see our women as good mothers, nurturers, good lovers, homemakers, wives, daughters.

NEXT PAGE: ''No matter how much you hated Aileen Wuornos, you had to come away with a little part of you that says, I understand''

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