What is the best Charlize Theron performance?

From the transformative Oscar-winning turn as a serial killer to unstoppable action icons and darkly comic disasters of vanity — she has never played it safe. Which role is the definitive Charlize Theron?

1. 1
   Monster

   A 2003 drama in which Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her physically and emotionally transformative portrayal of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
2. 2
   Young Adult

   A 2011 Jason Reitman film in which Theron gives a fearless, darkly comedic performance as a narcissistic, alcoholic YA novelist who returns to her hometown to reclaim her high-school sweetheart.
3. 3
   Mad Max: Fury Road

   A 2015 George Miller epic in which Theron's fierce, one-armed warrior Imperator Furiosa became an instant icon of action cinema, arguably outshining the title character.
4. 4
   Tully

   A 2018 Diablo Cody drama in which Theron gained 50 pounds and delivered one of her most vulnerable performances as an exhausted mother who bonds with her night nanny.
5. 5
   Bombshell

   A 2019 drama in which Theron earned an Oscar nomination for her uncanny physical and vocal transformation into Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during the Roger Ailes scandal.
6. 6
   North Country

   A 2005 drama in which Theron earned an Oscar nomination playing a single mother who leads the first major sexual harassment class-action lawsuit in US history.
7. 7
   Atomic Blonde

   A 2017 action thriller in which Theron commands the screen as a lethal MI6 agent navigating Cold War Berlin, performing much of her own stuntwork.
8. 8
   The Devil's Advocate

   A 1997 thriller in which Theron delivers a deeply unsettling performance as a woman slowly unraveling under supernatural influence while her husband is drawn into a demonic law firm.
9. 9
   The Old Guard

   A 2020 Netflix action fantasy in which Theron anchors the film as an ancient near-immortal warrior leading a covert team of mercenaries.
10. 10
    Snow White and the Huntsman

    A 2012 fantasy in which Theron steals the film entirely as the vain, ruthless Evil Queen, delivering a theatrically grand yet genuinely menacing villain performance.
11. 11
    The Cider House Rules

    A 1999 John Irving adaptation in which Theron brings warmth and complexity as a young woman who falls for an orphanage-raised doctor's apprentice.
12. 12
    The Italian Job

    A 2003 heist thriller in which Theron proves her action-star credentials as a professional safe-cracker joining a crew to avenge her father's murder.
13. 13
    The Burning Plain

    A 2008 drama in which Theron won the Golden Lion at Venice playing a woman haunted by the consequences of a tragic affair, with a restrained and emotionally intricate performance.
14. 14
    Long Shot

    A 2019 romantic comedy in which Theron showcases her underutilized gift for comedy as a polished US Secretary of State who falls for her childhood friend.
15. 15
    Prometheus

    A 2012 Ridley Scott sci-fi film in which Theron brings icy authority to the role of a Weyland Corporation executive overseeing a deep-space expedition.