ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: But women might want to see themselves that way, no?
CHARLIZE THERON: Yeah. And I think that fear of it being a high risk has now slowly gone away for me. Because no matter how much you hated Aileen Wuornos, you had to come away with a little part of you that says, I understand. And in this role in Sleepwalking, I'm sorry, I know it's something we don't want to talk about, but not every woman is a good mother. That's really flawed and it's really easy to judge that. But if you look at that person as a human being, you think, Oh my God, look at where you've come from and look at what you've done about it. That kind of insight makes it very interesting for me as an actor to play a woman that's very flawed.
Did producing feel different this time since your role wasn't so all-consuming, like it was on Monster?
I found them very similar. I'm always on set. I flew up six weeks before these guys came on to do a 16-week production. I wasn't in every scene like I was in Monster, but what made up for that extra time was working with AnnaSophia Robb. And I really enjoyed that. Anna and I became really good partners on the film. And then the fact that I was playing her mother, I wanted her to have a good experience. It's something to ask a 12-year-old to come and do really heavy material, and I want to be able to sleep with myself at night. This is a young girl who is going to have an extensive career, and I wanted this to be this great opportunity for her, where she learns a great deal and goes on and challenges herself. Straight off the bat, I said, ''I want to give you what I would want to have if I was your age.'' So she felt safe but she also felt challenged. There were days where I sat her down and we had very...I kicked her ass. She's just like me, always up to the challenge.
Have you thought about directing?
No. I think, for me, a producer is a very creative job. And I'm definitely not one of those producers who takes the money and says, ''Hey I'll see you in Cannes!'' I like the partnership, and I think the model for me was when I did Monster. That was an incredible partnership I had with my director, cast, and crew. Movies only get made when there is a great collaboration. There is no one man who makes the whole movie by himself. So that becomes a really creative role. Actors feed off each other. I've never been on a movie where the actors just stay in their trailers. I'm always out on set. And at the end of the day, if you're doing that, you'll have a great experience. That's what it's all about: the experience. I always think that when I'm on my deathbed I don't ever want to remember what any movie made at the box office. But I know I will remember that one grip's face or that caterer who made an amazing grilled-cheese sandwich. Those actors, those jokes, those memories are very valuable.
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