Editing Charlize Theron (section)

===1991–2002: Early work and breakthrough===
Although she saw herself as a dancer,<ref name=CharAngel /> Theron won a one-year modelling contract at age 16<ref name=tca /> at a local competition in [[Salerno]], Italy<ref name=CharAngel /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2000/settembre/18/Charlize_Theron_Salerno_Potrei_innamorarmi_co_0_00091811394.shtml|title=Charlize Theron at Salerno "I could fall in love with Allen|access-date=8 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905092659/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2000/settembre/18/Charlize_Theron_Salerno_Potrei_innamorarmi_co_0_00091811394.shtml|archive-date=5 September 2015|url-status=live|language=it}}</ref> and moved with her mother to [[Milan]], Italy.{{r|FiveThings|usaweekend}} After Theron spent a year modelling throughout Europe, she and her mother moved to the United States; they resided in New York City and [[Miami]].<ref name=usaweekend /> In New York, she attended the [[Joffrey Ballet School]], where she trained as a ballet dancer until a knee injury closed this career path.{{r|CharAngel|indielondon}} As Theron recalled in 2008:

{{blockquote|I went to New York for three days to model, and then I spent a winter in New York in a friend's windowless basement apartment. I was broke, I was taking class at the Joffrey Ballet, and my knees gave out. I realized I couldn't dance anymore, and I went into a [[Major depressive disorder|major depression]]. My mom came over from South Africa and said, "Either you figure out what to do next or you come home, because you can sulk in South Africa".<ref name=CharAngel />}}

In 1994,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1857161,00.html |title=Play It Tough |first=Charlotte |last=Higgins |date=24 August 2006 |work=The Guardian |location=UK |access-date=23 February 2008 |archive-date=4 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504152822/http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/aug/24/cuba |url-status=dead }}</ref> Theron flew to [[Los Angeles]] on a one-way ticket her mother bought for her; she intended to work in the film industry.<ref name=CharAngel /> During her initial months there, she lived in a motel with the $300 budget that her mother had given her;<ref name="SAGinterview"/> she continued receiving cheques from New York and lived "from paycheck to paycheck".<ref name=Fast>{{cite AV media |date=12 July 2013 |title=Charlize Theron on her life, career, and South African homeland |medium=Television broadcast  |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XenO29VhOow | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211123/XenO29VhOow| archive-date=2021-11-23 | url-status=live|time=5:54–6:11 |publisher=FastTheLatestNews |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=9 May 2020 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> Theron stole bread from a basket in a restaurant to survive.{{r|Fast|SAGinterview}} One day, she went to a [[Hollywood Boulevard]] bank to cash a few cheques, including one her mother had sent to help with the rent;{{r|indielondon|SAGinterview}} however; the check from her mother was rejected because it was out-of-state and she was not an American citizen.<ref name="SAGinterview"/> Theron argued and pleaded with the [[bank teller]] until [[talent agent]] John Crosby,<ref name=indielondon /> who was the next customer behind her, cashed it for her and gave her his business card.{{r|tca|SAGinterview}}

Crosby introduced Theron to an acting school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rd.com/celebrities/movie-celebs/face-to-face-with-charlize-theron/article.html |title=Charlize Theron Interview |first=Sara |last=Davidson |date=October 2005 |work=[[Reader's Digest]] |access-date=23 February 2008|archive-date=25 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325213620/http://www.rd.com/celebrities/movie-celebs/face-to-face-with-charlize-theron/article.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1995, she played her first non-speaking film role in the [[horror film]] ''[[Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest]]''.<ref name=tca/> In Theron's first speaking role, she portrayed [[hitwoman]] Helga Svelgen in ''[[2 Days in the Valley]]'' (1996). Despite the film's mixed reviews, Theron drew attention due to her beauty and to a scene in which she fought [[Teri Hatcher]]'s character.{{r|SAGinterview|firing}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ryan |first1=Tim |title=TOTAL RECALL: THE 20 GREATEST FIGHTS SCENES EVER |url=https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/total-recall-the-20-greatest-fights-scenes-ever/ |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=9 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219190200/https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/Total-Recall-The-20-Greatest-Fights-Scenes-Ever/ |archive-date=19 February 2020 |date=17 April 2008 |quote=17. 2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY (1996) - 59% - Charlize Theron vs. Teri Hatcher [...] ''2 Days in the Valley'' sets itself apart in a number of ways, not least of which is a hotel room-destroying donnybrook between Teri Hatcher and Charlize Theron.}}</ref> Theron feared being [[typecast]] as characters similar to Helga and recalled being asked to repeat her performance in the film during auditions:<ref name="SAGinterview"/> "A lot of people were saying, 'You should just hit while the iron's hot' [...] But playing the same part over and over doesn't leave you with any longevity. And I knew it was going to be harder for me, because of what I look like, to branch out to different kinds of roles".<ref name="firing">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2008/06/charlize_theron?printable=true |title=Charlize |first=Gabriel |last=Snyder |date=June 2008 |magazine=[[W (magazine)|W]] |access-date=23 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210125754/http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2008/06/charlize_theron?printable=true |archive-date=10 February 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

When auditioning for ''[[Showgirls]]'', Theron was introduced to talent agent J. J. Harris by co-casting director Johanna Ray. She recalled being surprised at how much faith Harris had in her potential. Theron has referred to Harris as her mentor. Harris found scripts and films for Theron in a variety of genres and encouraged her to become a producer. She served as Theron's agent for over 15 years.{{r|SAGinterview|FiveThings}}

Theron's career expanded by the end of the 1990s. In the horror drama ''[[The Devil's Advocate (1997 film)|The Devil's Advocate]]'' (1997), which is credited as her break-out film,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/charlize-theron-i-trained-for-five-hours-a-day-for-three-months-to-get-stunts-right-36019620.html|title=Charlize Theron: 'I trained for five hours a day for three months to get stunts right'|newspaper=Belfast Telegraph|date=11 August 2017|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=26 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064553/https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/charlize-theron-i-trained-for-five-hours-a-day-for-three-months-to-get-stunts-right-36019620.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Theron starred alongside [[Keanu Reeves]] and [[Al Pacino]] as the haunted wife of an unusually successful lawyer. She subsequently starred in the adventure film ''[[Mighty Joe Young (1998 film)|Mighty Joe Young]]'' (1998) as the friend and protector of a giant mountain gorilla, and in the drama ''[[The Cider House Rules (film)|The Cider House Rules]]'' (1999), as a woman who seeks an abortion in World War II-era [[Maine]].<ref name=tca /> While ''Mighty Joe Young'' flopped at the box office,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mightyjoeyoung.htm |title=Mighty Joe Young |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=26 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064638/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mightyjoeyoung.htm |archive-date=26 October 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref> ''The Devil's Advocate'' and ''The Cider House Rules'' were commercially successful.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=devilsadvocate.htm |title=The Devil's Advocate |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=26 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064624/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=devilsadvocate.htm |archive-date=26 October 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ciderhouserules.htm |title=The Cider House Rules |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=26 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064611/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ciderhouserules.htm |archive-date=26 October 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref> She appeared on the cover of the January 1999 issue of ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' as the "White Hot Venus".<ref>{{cite book|first=Philippe J. |last=Salazar |title=An African Athens |page=112|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8058-3341-6}}</ref> The May 1999 issue of ''[[Playboy (magazine)|Playboy]]'' magazine also featured Theron on its cover; the photos of Theron used by ''Playboy'' had been taken several years earlier when she was an unknown model, and Theron unsuccessfully sued the magazine for publishing them without her consent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/charlize-theron-drew-barrymore-10-surprising-playboy-cover-stars-photos-553578|title=Charlize Theron to Drew Barrymore: 10 Surprising Playboy Cover Star|work=ibtimes.com|date=15 December 2011|access-date=16 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130105023719/http://www.ibtimes.com/charlize-theron-drew-barrymore-10-surprising-playboy-cover-stars-photos-553578|archive-date=5 January 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/galleries/gallery/-/14782942/most-scandalous-celebrity-photoshoots/5/|title=Most Scandalous Photoshoots|date=6 September 2012|access-date=16 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216073612/http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/galleries/gallery/-/14782942/most-scandalous-celebrity-photoshoots/5/|archive-date=16 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By the early 2000s, Theron continued to steadily take on roles in films such as ''[[Reindeer Games]]'' (2000), ''[[The Yards]]'' (2000), ''[[The Legend of Bagger Vance]]'' (2000), ''[[Men of Honor]]'' (2000), ''[[Sweet November (2001 film)|Sweet November]]'' (2001), ''[[The Curse of the Jade Scorpion]]'' (2001), and ''[[Trapped (2002 film)|Trapped]]'' (2002), all of which, despite achieving only limited commercial success, helped to establish her as an actress. On this period in her career, Theron remarked: "I kept finding myself in a place where directors would back me but studios didn't. [I began] a love affair with directors, the ones I really, truly admired. I found myself making really bad movies, too. ''Reindeer Games'' was not a good movie, but I did it because I loved [director] [[John Frankenheimer]]".<ref>{{cite web|first=Johnathan |last=Van Meter |date=October 2004 |url=http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/092704/page2.html |title= Bronzed bombshell |publisher=Vogue |website=Style.com |access-date= 24 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708215330/http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/092704/page2.html |archive-date=8 July 2008}}</ref>