Charlize theron baby father

Charlize Theron's daughters' very different upbringing explained

Charlize Theron has a celebrated career as an Oscar-winning actress, but nothing makes her prouder than raising her two children.

The star is a mom to August, seven, and Jackson, eleven, who she is building a life with in Los Angeles and their start in life is very different from her own. 

Charlize - who is incredibly close to her mom Gerda - grew up on a farm outside of the South African city of Johannesburg. 

WATCH: Charlize Theron shares rare video of her two daughters

"I didn't grow up in America," she told Harper's Bazaar, as she discussed the difficulties of raising two children stateside. "My education was just so different than what my kids are having in America."

Charlize grew up during Apartheid, which shaped her childhood and impacted her political views. She confessed she was surrounded by "turmoil" as a youngster.

MORE: Charlize Theron's staggering net worth will leave you lost for words

SEE: Charlize Theron's teen throwback photo from the 90s 

Tragically, her mother also killed Charlize's alcoholic father after he

Charlize Theron's Family Tragedy

Jan. 8 -- For nearly a decade, Charlize Theron has been one of Hollywood's certified goddesses, 5 feet 10 inches of traffic-stopping, red carpet-strutting, designer-clad glamour.

Roles in movies such as The Italian Job, Sweet November, Reindeer Games and The Cider House Rules put the actress on the A-list. She is getting rave reviews and a lot of Oscar buzz — and has even been nominated for a Golden Globe — for her bold, risk-taking performance as serial killer Aileen Wournos in her latest film, Monster.

That bravery also extends beyond her career. Theron spoke out in a public service announcement about the rarely talked-about rape crisis in her native South Africa. When the South African government got cold feet and pulled it, she went to court and fought to get it back on the air.

Theron says she got that kind of confidence from one person: her mother, Gerda. But the story is not one of a simple mother-daughter relationship.

Up until now, Theron has never told the story on television. "It's not just about me," she said. "If it was just about me, I think I could talk about it." She says her mother "has

Charlize Theron Opens Up About Her Traumatic Childhood

Charlize Theron is known for her hard-as-nail roles in movies such as Mad Max and her Oscar Winning film Monster, but the year-old South African actress is also made of stern stuff off the silver screen.

Theron has been relatively open about her childhood, where she witnessed and suffered under her parents' turbulent relationship. Her alcoholic father was physically abusive to her mother, Gerda, and verbally abusive to her as a child. This culminated in one traumatic event when her mother killed her father to stop him from harming the family.

In a  interview with Diane Sawyer, she spoke publicly about how her father returned home, drunk, when she was only He fired his gun into her bedroom, and Charlize's mother shot him dead to stop him. The court agreed with her explanation that it was in self-defense.

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Now, the actress has spoken out further on the incident, discussing how her teenage self dealt with the insurmountable horror she had witnessed. While promoting her newest film, Atomic Blonde, she spoke toHoward Stern in a radio in

The Tragic Story Of Charlize Theron's Parents

In her Diane Sawyer interview, Charlize Theron — who is now a mom herself — revealed how she feels about her mom's role in her dad's death, saying, "I know what happened and I know that if my daughter was in the same situation, I would do the same thing." 

As open as she is about her story, that wasn't always the case. At the time, Theron "just pretended like it didn't happen." 

"I didn't tell anybody — I didn't want to tell anybody. Whenever anybody asked me, I said my dad died in a car accident. Who wants to tell that story? Nobody wants to tell that story," Theron told Howard Stern in (via People). 

Theron credited her mother for giving her strength in a Extrainterview. She began, "I think we all have to find our own footing. None of us are born knowing how to navigate life and difficult decisions, especially for young girls." She continued, "No matter who you are or where you come from, the struggle is maybe a little bit different, but all interconnects. I am lucky enough that I had a great mom who really kind of made me brave and always told me to be brave. I don't know who I might have been without that."

Theron had


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