"RE-RELEASE: Charlize Theron"

0:05Hey guys, okay, I'm doing an intro right now for Smartless and I just got back from the market I just bought a bunch of tapioca. I got nothing except a brand new, fresh, out-of-the-oven episode of Smartless for you guys and a couple of morons to help me with it. Stay tuned. Here it comes. Smartless. Smartless.

0:32Smartless.

0:38Smartless. Hey, how was the golf vacation? How was your golf trip? It was good. It was really, really good. You really missed one there, Arnett. That's okay. I was working. I was working. You were busy providing. Oh, I thought you guys went together. I couldn't go. I had to work. Uh-oh. I tried. I tried. I was with your wife last night, Jason. Um, sorry? I hung out with your wife last night. There we go. And your daughter, who I love. Yeah, she's pretty great. Yeah. Um, my, um, so that was a 10 year old. That's Maple. The 15 year old Franny had her sweet 16 this weekend. I know. I love that. No kidding.

1:19She did. Um, and it was, uh, boyfriend back. Were you back for it? I came back just in time to drive to where she was having it, uh, to, uh, kick them all out and lock up. Huh. And, um, and it was, uh, it was, it was great. I was ready to see things that I wasn't ready to see, and I didn't see anything that I was worried about. It was very, I mean, there was like bowls of chips and Oreo cookies laid out on trays. Okay, you weren't like sweeping up vape cartridges. Exactly. At least I didn't find any. But like just sweeping up Oreo cookies and stuff, and where was the party? Was it at Sean's house?

2:02Because I'm not. there were a lot of cheetos and um and cookies and and it sounds like my 51st sean what was the last big party you threw sean for yourself or just in general for yourself uh i don't know years and years and years ago why don't why don't why don't you treat yourself well didn't you guys come to that remember that poker party that i had i don't i did oh my god Sean, that was 2004. Yeah. I'm not kidding. It was the fall of 2004 in your backyard. I was there. I can't remember the year. You know, we used to play a lot of poker, Will. Why don't we start playing poker again? We talked about it.

2:44We've been threatening. I guess we could do it over here at my house. Why don't we just do it? It'd be fun. Hey, I texted Will yesterday if I could wear these shoes with the suit pants. Now, are you wearing them on the flight, too? Yeah. Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean flight? What do you mean suit pants? Oh, right. You're taking off today. He's going to an event. Why are you wearing suit pants? And who says suit pants? Aren't they called slacks? Who says slacks? Who says fucking suit pants, bro? Here we go, guys. Here we are. Suit pants versus slacks. We'll be right back. Who says slacks? Let's go back to the socks.

3:16Get back up and let's question the socks. Yeah. Aren't there like little faces on that? Yeah, what are you doing? What is that? No, they're just checkers. Are they fun? They're houndstooth. Do you like people who are like, I'm going to wear fun socks today. And I hope that people notice my fun socks and go, oh, man, you must have a real sense of humor because I just noticed your socks. This really shows that you've got a real sense of humor. You've got a lot of character. Wow, you've got a lot of character. Where are you going, Sean? I'm going to an event tonight, an award ceremony in Chicago for theater.

3:51And is the event tonight, Sean? The event's tonight, yeah. Wait, what time do you land? Are you nominated or are you presenting? I'm nominated in Goodnight Oscar. of the show is nominated and Emily Bergle who plays my wife is nominated and the writer is nominated Doug Wright and Lisa Peterson who directed it is nominated are you not nominated? no I am nominated it's such an honor are you also presenting? no what time do you get in? you're leaving late I literally land and have to go straight there okay well this feels like poor planning do you have an acceptance speech written? I mean just in case I have ideas just who you want to thank I saw Sean showed me a copy of his acceptance speech and he actually crossed out scotty he crossed he'd had him in and then he crossed it out did you guys get in a fight last night a little bit we don't want to go back to the socks for two seconds let's not talk about the scotty fight no i want to talk about the hurl an oreo at him no no i i i think the socks thing is because we don't as guys don't get a lot of and as far as fashion goes a lot of room to play with like it's always just a suit opportunities for hijinks with clothes.

4:56I thought you were going to say it's always just a hoodie. I do have another hoodie on. Yeah, I do like to accessorize a little bit every once in a while. I don't have the moves that Will does because you're not afraid of a scarf or something like that, are you, Will? Or a cravat, no. What's a cravat? Yeah, what is a cravat? Ascot, I guess. I don't know. You know, I get... See the way he was so, like, trying to have patience with us Philistines that don't know. Well, what can I do? I mean, you know, I get roasted for it if I just, you know, just for my common parlance. That's why I texted you, because out of three of us, you probably dress the best.

5:32You really do. Thank you very much. Thank you for saying that. Yeah. No, I really take that as a compliment. And I did say to you, yes, I mean, I think that those shoes are okay. Yes. I said, give me the context where it is, and he said, it's this thing, it's not a big deal, and it's in Chicago, and I said, then it's fine. Yeah, it's a big deal. All you heard was Chicago, and it's good then. Yeah, well, it's in Chicago, yeah, it's fine. Yeah, it's fine in Chicago. So they're tennis shoes, though. I'm just kidding. All my friends in Chicago, it should be noted, love Chicago. We had a great time in Chicago.

5:59The three of us did. We did. And we love it. But, Shawnee, those are tennis shoes you're wearing with a suit? Yeah. Am I looking at the full outfit right now? Is the hoodie part of the suit pants and everything? No, no. The hoodie's just for the airplane. But what is your opinion, Jason, about gym shoes with a suit as opposed to dress shoes? Those aren't gym shoes. Let's be clear. Hang on. Stop saying gym shoes and suit pants. they're like you know they're I wore them on the tour what do you call those what do you call it you give like rich guys a problem sorry we'll be right with you guys those are like adult contemporary I call those adult contemporary shoes I'm a rich guy with a yacht yeah I'm a finance guy and I'm trying to be cool and so my my wife got me some Tom Ford sneakers and I'm like hey look I'm hip I don't have time to think about it I'm worried about numbers all the time and then I'm wearing jeans and I'm wearing these kind of sneakers kind of thing.

6:52And it's like, hey, listen, I'm wearing this suit jacket, but then I'm jeans under the desk and I've got these fucking cool sneaks. Like, okay, just fucking do it or don't. All right, let's get back to - Why am I so mad about - Jason, you know, Jason gets it. You know I'm not mad. I just get work - I know you're not mad. I know you're about to get real pleased. Today we have a guest that is all things. She's an actor. She's a producer. She's a mom, a model, an Academy Award winner, a United Nations messenger of peace, and a friend of ours. She's been in 50 films, but is younger than all of us.

7:25Let's find out how she gets it all done today on Smart List. Shall we, gang? Please welcome the one and only Charlize Theron. Oh, my God. Yeah. The deal. Hi, Charlize. Yay. Good morning. Hi. She's got a cute haircut and a cute sweater on. She's got a cute haircut today. I do. It's a grow out. I don't think it's a haircut. It's a grow out. Yeah. What's a grow out? And it's dark, listener. It looks real good dark. Yeah, it's super cute. Have I ever seen you dark? I think so. Or brunette. What do we call it? Whatever you want. I mean, I'm not that picky about it. It's just cute as hell is what it's called.

8:04She just put it right back into your court, JB. Yes, she did. She's got a sweater on that I think I wore in 84. She wears it real well. Thank you. Let's bring those back. Yes. What about socks? Charlize, are you a socks? Let me see. here she goes no socks nothing no socks no socks no shoes but you got a couple tats on there no socks yeah Sean quick eye there you noticed huh yeah fast how many tattoos do we have today I have two I'm proud to say you have a tramp stamp that's amazing it's right on the small of my back it just says breathe yeah what does it say breathe breathe so it's so it's working so it's like a PSA for whoever you're with.

8:53Sean, Will, any tattoos from you two? That's killed Sean. That's hysterical. Sure. Sean's laughing because it's an idea. Right. Any tattoos. Right. No tattoos from Will? Sean? No, I've always wanted to get one. When I was young, I wanted to get one on my bicep. My what? My bicep. And then what happened? It went away, so you had no place to put it? I wanted to get Wendell Clark. I would be one of those when you're waving, it speaks. I know. That's what's happening to me now at 53. I don't like to show my tattoos on me because both are on my girls' names on the inside of my arm there. I don't notice how I don't say bicep.

9:33And then when I show it to somebody when they ask, and then that little bottom part of the arm just starts to wave at them. It's not good. I have my girls' middle names on my arm, too. Do you? Oh, that's cute. In charcoal gray right here. But on your forearm. On my forearm, yes. Okay, so let me ask you actors with tattoos. Do you have to go through makeup when you're doing a movie to get, like, is it a pain in the ass to get? Yeah, you've got to get it covered up. I did for the first year of Ozark, and then I said enough. Let's just say my guy's got tattoos. Who cares? What about you, Charlize?

10:03I did this in charcoal gray, so it doesn't really photograph. It's super light. And so it doesn't, you don't really, you don't pick it up. And I have found as a producer that when they're light like this, it's easy to take them out in the DI. You don't have to put a ton of makeup. It's almost easier to just leave it alone if it's a light tattoo. Right. But there's also that thing that I think it started with Mike Tyson in Hangover 3, right? Where you have to get the approval or the sign off of the person who does the tattoo. Of the artist. The artist, yeah. Or they can sue you later for like showing a painting that you haven't bought the license for or something like that.

10:40Yeah. Really? This world we're living in. It's like playing a song. You got to pay for it. It's kind of absurd. Remember when shit was free? Yeah. Right? Just remember when people didn't stress about shit that was stupid? Yeah. I do. Oh, I didn't know that we were all drinking at the same time. Sorry, gang. All right. It's nice to see you guys, by the way. It's been a while. It's been a long time. Yeah. It's been many, many years. Many years. I saw you. Remember when she was on Arrested Development, Sean? What was your favorite scene? Sean, remember when she was on Arrested Development? What was your favorite scene she did?

11:11Oh, my God. It's one of my favorite episodes. When she came in and she... He's never seen Arrested, Charlize. It's a point of contention. She played a character named Rita. Rita. Who was... Was she... Charlize, were you... I bet you don't even remember either. I don't... You were a spy? I, yeah. Or we thought you were a spy. You thought you were a spy. You thought I was a spy, yes. Because I had a very interesting British accent. I sounded very smart. Did you have a, growing up in South Africa, did you have an accent as a kid and got rid of it? Or what happened? Oh, yeah. No, I mean, I didn't speak English really until I was like 19.

11:50Really? I grew up in an area. Yes, I grew up in an area where. That's right. That's fucking terrible. Wait, wait, wait. Come on, bro. Come on, bro. Come on, bro. I know, it's terrible. It's a very difficult accent to do in South Africa. and very, very difficult. Anyway, yeah, I didn't speak it. So I had it as a second language, but nobody in my neighborhood spoke English. But I went to ballet, and it was the Royal Academy of London, and so we had these teachers from London, and they couldn't speak up. So that was the only English I ever really heard was these two Brits yelling at us. And I would do exams not even knowing I was doing exams because I didn't understand what they were saying.

12:33So when I came here at 19, it was really kind of like learning the language, and that's why it was easy for me to drop the accent because I was really learning English from scratch. I think English-speaking South Africans have a harder time because it's an ingrained accent that they're trying to break. I didn't have that. So Afrikaans is a completely different language. It's not a severity of accent. This is new information for you. Wow. It is a combination. There's about 44 people still speaking it. It's definitely a dying language. It's not a very helpful language. Do we know what it is a combination of?

13:11We do. Yeah, Dutch. I mean, yeah, so we pretty much all of Europe try to come in and take over. But the Dutch language is predominantly what it's based on, and then there's some German in there, and then we bastardize it. So if I – I understand Dutch, but when I speak Afrikaans, a Dutch person will be like very hoity-toity about it and they'll be like, I don't know what you're saying because we've kind of bastardized it. We flatten it out a little bit. They might even say that's a terrible, terrible accent like you said to me. Wait, I'm an idiot. Did you ever play a part where you had to do a South African accent?

13:50I did, yeah. You did, yeah. Probably a super famous movie and I'm a dum-dum. No, it's not actually. Yeah, it was a film called The Last Face. Okay. Okay, because I could talk to you for nine hours about Alien Prometheus right now, because it's one of my favorite movies. I loved it. Thank you, Scotty. Scotty's creeping in in the background. It did look like the door was opening. Oh, it's the dog. It's the dog. If it was Scotty on all fours, just coming to listen. Aww.

14:19All right, well, okay, so then you said you came here at 19. Charlize, let's go back. So we're in South Africa. we decide to go to, now ballet was not first, was it modeling in Milan? Well, I started dancing when I was really young and then I went to an art school for dance. And that's really what I wanted to do with my life. I just, I fell in love with dance. And I mean, really what I fell in love with was storytelling, but I didn't know it then. Because technically I was never the strongest dancer, but when I was Swan Lake, I would fucking die on the stage. And so I always got work because I could.

14:58Stop nodding, Sean. Okay, sorry. I mean, he's eagerly nodding. But yeah, that's what I wanted to do with my life until I kind of couldn't and had to kind of rethink my life. And my mom was the one that pointed out that it was maybe more the storytelling aspect of it that I loved than the dance. And so she was the one that kind of put it together that maybe I should go and try acting, which was like the most stupid, ignorant, like we knew nothing. Nothing about how you would even go about to be an actor. So how did you? A one-way ticket to Hollywood. Oh, really? She literally bought me a one-way ticket to Los Angeles.

15:35Wow, no way. And I got off the plane and I had nowhere to stay. I mean, I just had no plan. I stayed at the Farmer's Daughter because the cab dropped me off there. On Fairfax. Yeah, and now it's cute. Back then it was like a by the hour. Yeah. I bought a bottle of bleach right across from the Vons and started cleaning that bathroom. And I stayed there for like six months. I stayed there for an hour once. Heyo. Now, did you take acting classes right away? Not right away. I had a very strange experience where kind of like the Lana Turner, you know, soda fountain story where I was at a bank trying to cash a check from New York, which was an out-of-state check.

16:15and I couldn't cash it and this guy was trying to help me cash it and he ended up being a manager. And he signed me on, which is just weird because I could barely speak English and that tells you everything about how we find our actors these days. But anyway, he told me about an acting class and I started going there, like what I could afford, which was like once a week at that time. And that was helpful because I knew nothing about acting. I knew nothing. I didn't even know who actors were. Like, I loved Tom Hanks movies without knowing his name was Tom Hanks. Well, God, there's so much in there.

16:54How long was he your manager, this guy? He was my manager for about four years. Wow. You're so lucky you found the actual manager that says, hey, young lady, I'm a manager. Like, you found a real one. As opposed to, you know. I mean, instead of, like, in my office, is in my van. Yeah. Everybody said that. They were like, this guy, this is what happens to everybody. Like, you're going to end up in a ditch. And then somebody actually knew him who was in my car. His card was in my car for, like, months. And they said, yeah, he represents John Hurt. And I was like, well, that's a real actor. Okay.

17:29So I called him. Wow. And we will be right back. And now back to the show. Now, when you, so when you started going to these acting classes and you didn't really know what acting was, as you said, was your experience with it and it's starting to become comfortable to you, did you have the sense like, oh, well, they just kind of have a name for all these things that I'm just kind of naturally doing anyway. In other words, did you find a very natural approach to acting or were you studying sort of like the technique and like going kind of dot to dot about how to act or did it just kind of come naturally to you because you're so good at it and you never really see you acting.

18:10It seems like it's very natural for you. Oh, thanks, Jason. I think it was a natural ability. It's easy for me to escape. Like, I think I used it in my childhood. It was a way for me to survive. And it's where I've always found solace. And I think of it as this, you know, amazing opportunity that I get to go and do whatever it is at that time, material wise, that I just get to dive into completely. And I love that aspect of it. And that is easy for me. but I didn't know how to break a script down and I didn't even know how to read a script and I didn't know about an arc necessarily you know so all of that stuff I had to learn and that's what this class was really helpful for because they they didn't just have actors they had writers they had directors so I was around people and I could see kind of you know it from a little bit higher in the ground.

19:04Not so. Did you, did you have a, um, uh, uh, an early experience with a, with an actor or a director on a job where you saw them, uh, with the actor, maybe breaking down their script or a director sort of, did anybody, was anybody a real helpful influence for you, like actually at work as opposed to on a, uh, or in a class? Oh yeah. I mean, I think, yes this class was helpful but really ultimately I became a student as I was working I mean I think that's always the best way to work and I look at all of my experiences early on I found great mentorship with producers and directors and writers and actors who really you know really just took me under my wing I'm here because of the grace of a lot of those people and kindness of a lot of those people because I was so eager and so you know I think they were entertained by me.

19:57Did you have a moment with one of them though, where it was that you remember now that you kind of go back to and go, that was a powerful moment. Somebody that I worked with director, writer, actor early on. Yeah. I mean, I worked with this writer, director, John Hertzfeld. It was my first film that I ever did. And he, and he was very kind, you know, he was very patient. I had to do a lot of stuff with, with James Spader, who's lovely, but like, he's a pro, you know, and he like shows up and he's ready to rock and roll and I think I was you know like 19 at the time and uh he there were moments where John really kind of like helped me I think get through a shoot that could have been tough because I was so inexperienced you know so I'm grateful to him always but then I got to work with Tom Hanks right after that and he was just fucking lovely because with him it was just all about the joy he was just like lean into the joy the joy the joy and then I also had like you know counter experiences like I love Taylor Hackford I did um a film called uh Devil's Advocate with him with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves and that was a really big movie for me and he he loves he really encourages method and so everybody just you don't really have a choice like that's just kind of like how he makes I don't know now but that was back then so explain explain for like for for tracy the the the non uh the non-entertainment people uh what method is it's it's basically immersing yourself in the character in the world 24 7 and so you're never ever out of it you stay in it you your director will call you by the character name you just you're kind of immersed in it the whole time and those people are super fun to hang out with.

21:44That's exactly it. So I realized on that film that that was definitely not a process that was going to work for me. There was something so exhausting about it. My life was miserable. I wasn't happy. And then of course you worry because you're like, well, if I don't do that, then maybe I won't be as good as the Marlon Brando's and the Monty Cliffs. And you read all these biographies. And then I did some work non-method and I was actually really happy with the work and I think you could pop in and out yeah I for me yeah having the energy to be able to go uh a lot further in darker material is way more helpful than being exhausted when I'm exhausted I'm a little bit I'm just retired like I almost like don't want to like go into the dark room but I think when I so I made it a real discipline I think dance really helped me with this I I work and I leave it behind and I come home and I pick up my dog shit and I love my kids and I make pasta and drink a beer and life is good.

22:43Well, you're so goddamn funny. I wish you'd do more comedies. I'll bet they just don't come your way, right? I mean, it's just a question of them not sending you a bunch of comedic stuff. Are you talking to Sean? Charlize, we'll be with you in one second. like I you know there it's like well maybe you wouldn't mind being immersed in so well I guess depends on what sort of comedic character it would be but going method on a comedy would not be as painful I would I would suppose I think comedy is you know it's very much like a taste thing like I think you love you love comedy because you find something funny and I think that's where I struggle sometimes yeah there's certain kinds of funny yeah so like for me the reason why you know i i had just won the academy award for monster and the first job i did was working with you guys on arrested development because makes sense to me i just thought this is such an opportunity to work with these geniuses that i you know might never get again and then they were the geniuses weren't available so you came and worked with us but you know mitch was amazing and kind of like approaching me and saying like do you find this funny like let's if you find this funny we can figure something out and that's kind of the comedy that i'm i don't want to i don't think i can do comedy that i don't myself find funny like i loved working with the point gray guys and seth rogan on long shot like that was a movie that i really loved i would make that movie over and over and over again because it was just hands down one of the best experiences jonathan levine kind of shepherded that thing and everybody was just i find them very funny How great is Seth, too?

24:26He's such a good dude. Yeah, hilarious. I remember how our minds were blown that you were coming to do the show. Remember, Will? We were just like, wait, what? Yeah. Carly's Darren's coming here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was difficult. It was difficult to process. I was so nervous. I'm going to tell you guys right now. I don't think. We were petrified, too. I would say that's like my top five most nervous jobs I've ever done. Because people don't think of me as funny. So there's this version of like, oh, here comes the dramatic, you know, asshole. No, but what was great. that's going to like come and fuck our show up.

24:56Yeah, you were just playing this great character. You know, like it wasn't funny to her. You know, that was that brand of humor. Yeah, and I think that's the humor that I like. But I do feel pressure. Not pressure, but you guys are so good. So I look at you guys and I go, when I watched you two, and that whole cast, I have to say, it's effortless. But I also know you guys have been on the show for a while and you get into a thing. It's like, there's nothing worse than being the new kid on the show. Like when you show up and it's like... Right, but hopefully you saw how quickly we were all morons and it was just this big dumb family.

25:31We were idiots. No, I found you guys very impressive, actually. Very impressive. We were very... I remember just being like, what? I'm just feeling so... I have a question though. You turned into George Michael. I really did. I did. But what's kind of mind-blowing to me, just hearing your story about coming here at 19 and not speaking English, you just kind of it's kind of mind-blowing that you jumped into these films like with these huge successful people right away where most actors stories are like i did this commercial and i try to get a tv show i couldn't do that you know your your journey was so quick no i did i did that i just skipped over it i did i did like ross dress for less commercials oh okay okay and And by that, I mean, I was like an extra in the back, you know, like not featured.

26:18But no, trust me, I was an extra in Children of the Corn 3. Oh, okay. No, it was definitely not like, oh, here you go. Here you go. And what about like roommates? Did you have to find other actor roommates? Like how was the living situation growing up? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I lived in a loft with two other girls right next to the Big Five down in San Vicente. Oh, sure. And I lived there for years. And it was, you know, like a one-bedroom loft. It was just a room and a bed, you know, coming out of the wall. And three of us lived there for years. The bathroom was literally right next to the kitchen.

26:57And I just, I would look at that toilet from the kitchen sink and I just said to myself, let this be the motivation. Let this be the motivation. We need to live somewhere where our toilet is right next to the kitchen. That was like, that was a huge motivation. Do you still talk to those roommates? Didn't you and Scotty put a toilet in the kitchen just to cut down the commute? Just to cut down the commute? You can only put so much sloppy Joe in your face before, you know, you just can't make it to the toilet. They did the math on how much time they waste going back and forth. They sat down there to meet with their business manager.

27:39The truth is so funny sometimes. You're right. Charlize is still trying to catch a breath. We'll wait. We can trim it all out. I'm literally crying. Jesus Christ. Oh, God. By the way, I've made these guys Slappy Joes a couple times now. So maybe that's why. Well, I've heard about your Swedish fish. Yeah, I've listened to the show. The plug that a Swedish fish and a piece of sloppy joe can make. That's funny. Charlize, the cushy shooting situation there at 20th Century Fox when we were doing Arrested is nothing compared to the grueling location of, say, a Mad Max, right? I mean, walk us through.