Actor Charlize Theron has become a vocal advocate for laws against domestic violence worldwide, citing her own tumultuous childhood as the reason.
In a recent interview, the Oscar winner revealed that her father's alcoholism and violence led her mother to intervene and fatally shoot him in self-defence when Charlize was around 12-13 years old.
Theron described her father's struggles with alcoholism, saying he would often go missing and return in a severe state, causing 'messy and loud' fights with her mother.
Things eventually came to a head when her father attempted to kill her for a trivial reason, prompting her mother to protect her.
Theron recalled the night her father tried to break into her bedroom, shooting through the steel doors, but her mother intervened, shooting him in self-defence.
The shooting was legally adjudged to be self-defence, and Charlize's mother faced no charges.
Theron moved out of South Africa the following year and began her modelling career in Europe before making her way to Hollywood in 1994.
She got her breakthrough with the 1997 release, The Devil's Advocate, and won the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 release Monster.
