An actor's life may seem cushy at times (flying private and scoring free designer clothes definitely doesn't sound too punishing), but it's not always that way. Preparing for a tough role can be grueling, both physically and mentally, which is something that Charlize Theron knows well. While everyone will likely remember her turn as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the 2003 film Monster — she scored the Best Actress Oscar for the part, and was completely unrecognizable thanks to prosthetics — it's her new role in Atomic Blonde that has proved to be the most challenging... especially in the tooth department.
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The 41-year-old actress, whose company Denver and Delilah Productions recently produced Netflix's Girlboss, told Variety that she suffered a bit of a blow during the filming of the action flick. Actually, it was multiple blows. In addition to bruising her ribs and twisting her knee, Variety reports that Theron had to undergo dental surgery because she clenched her jaw so hard during a stunt two teeth cracked. Yikes.
"I had severe tooth pain, which I never had in my entire life," she told the outlet. "It was tough. You want to be in your best fighting shape, and it’s hard. I had the [tooth removal] and I had to put a donor bone in there to heal until I came back, and then I had another surgery to put a metal screw in there."
There's a reason people joke about terrible things being "as fun as dental surgery," and it definitely speaks to Theron's love of her work that she had the will to get back into fighting shape. She also told Variety that she credits her get-back-up attitude with growing up in South Africa.
"I had to be very resilient as a kid in South Africa," she told the trade of her home country, which she supported in 2016 by raising money for HIV/AIDS affected youth.
Fortunately for fans eager to see an action heroine, Theron won't let a few injuries (or intense dental surgery) stand in the way of making the movie about a badass blonde.