Charlize Theron Compares Being Asked To Play The Role Of Wonder Woman’s Mom To A ‘Slap In The Face’

Age is a touchy subject, perhaps especially for women. Some women opt to keep their real age a secret as they get older in hopes of people thinking they are younger than they actually are. Of course, when you are a celebrity, this is simply not an option. Your age is plastered everywhere online and in magazines for everyone to see, even if you’re not fully comfortable even admitting it to yourself. In the acting business, age can be particularly hard to adjust to, as your options for potential roles may be limited if you appear too old for the part in question. Actress Charlize Theron, 43, is comfortable admitting her age and doesn’t think of herself as old. However, when she got offered the role of Wonder Woman’s mother, she realized she had crossed over an invisible line without even realizing it, according to Pop Culture.

Theron was approached and told about an acting opportunity for the film Wonder Woman. At first, she thought she was being asked whether she might consider playing the role of the famous female superhero herself. But upon further inquiry, she was shocked to realize that wasn’t the role she was being offered. In fact, the film’s producers were hoping she might play Wonder Woman’s mother. The realization stung as she acknowledged she was now considered too old within the industry to play some of the roles she used to be able to take on.

Someone Thought Charlize Theron Should've Played Wonder Woman's Mom And, Like, What? https://t.co/FrZ6SISHOW

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) May 4, 2019

“This is a great of example of how Hollywood slaps you in the face when you start aging. 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'”.

At that point, Theron knew there was no turning back time, and that things would be different for her career-wise moving forward.

“It was the defining moment where I crossed over. And I wasn’t fully aware of it,” she said.

Interestingly enough, the role of Wonder Woman herself was given to actress Gal Gadot, who is 34-years-old. That means that if Theron did take the role, she would be playing the mother of someone only nine years younger than she was. As it turned out, she did not end up taking the offer. The role was given to actress Connie Nielsen, who is 53-years-old.