Charlize Theron, who’s dating Sean Penn, ‘incredibly happy right now’

THERON. “Love in its purest form is unconditional.” Photo by Ruben Nepales

LOS ANGELES—“I am incredibly happy right now” were the few words that Charlize Theron would say about her current relationship state. She’s been dating Sean Penn since early this year. The actress, stunning in a short white dress during this interview, added, “I feel incredibly blessed. You know that I’m not always very good at talking about this so there’s something for me to go home to that’s sacred.”

By coincidence, Charlize and Sean won the top Oscar acting prizes in 2004; she for “Monster,” and he for “Mystic River.” He will direct her in the drama, “The Last Face,” which will also star Javier Bardem and Adele Exarchopoulos.

The statuesque South African, whose previous boyfriend was actor Stuart Townsend, shared what she has learned about relationships in general. “We all hope to evolve, right?” she asked aloud. “I am no different than any of us. You come out of something, and you try to walk away with wisdom and a lesson learned, some kind of an understanding of the things that you need and want and won’t live without.”

Charlize, whose adopted son, Jackson, is now 2 years old, said that she does plan to have more children. “I will, but I don’t know when,” she said. “I have always known that I want to have more kids, if I am fortunate enough.”

On what new perspective Jackson has brought into her life, Charlize remarked, “It’s that sense of excitement and joy—we forget that sense when we were children. I try to hang on to that as much. There’s something so incredibly beautiful in being retaught how to be excited in the purest form about things that we become so jaded about, like a lollipop. So, now when I order dessert, I get really excited.”

“He is like everybody’s son or kid,” stressed Charlize, who stars in the comedy-western, “A Million Ways to Die in the West.” “There’s nothing different. I celebrate him for being that—for being a normal, healthy little boy who likes to dictate me.”

A single mom who is having the best time of her life raising a son, Charlize hopes that she is “part of the generation that will be the evidence of what I already know—that our idea of what perfect parenting is—is not necessarily true. Whether you are a single mother, a mother and a mother and a father, a single father, a mother and a father, when love is involved, when it is at its purest form, it’s unconditional and it is focused toward wanting the best for someone, that’s what parenting is. It’s not the picture of what we have been raised or what we know.”

Thoughts on aging

Speaking of moms, Charlize brought up her mother, Gerda, when she was asked about her thoughts on aging, especially in a field that is criticized for being youth-centric. It was obvious that ageism is a topic she has given considerable thought. “I have a great example in a mother who is doing it very gracefully,” Charlize said. “But, she will be the first to tell you this, too—aging is not for pussies.”

The former model stressed, “I’m going to get old. We all will. I have always said it: Men age like fine wine, and women age like cut flowers; we just wilt.

“As soon as a woman starts aging, it’s like a meteor came down from the sky. If there’s a shot of you tired, you have done something to your eyes. We don’t do that to men. They sometimes get more facelifts than we do. It is unfair how we are treated when we start getting older. It’s almost like, how dare you get old? It’s disgusting—and it’s very unfortunate.”

Charlize told us about her role in “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” which also features Seth MacFarlane, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris and Giovanni Ribisi: “I play Anna, who is married to the greatest, deadliest outlaw in the West, played by Liam. Because of their objective to rob a stagecoach and his concern for her safety, he asks her to stay low in this little town and pretend she’s just a newcomer. The story follows her couple of days staying there and meeting the people, including Seth’s character. Through their love of hating the same things, they fall madly in love.”

The actress, who will be seen next in “Dark Places” and “Max Max: Fury Road,” sounded very impressed with the multitasking Seth. “I don’t think I have been around anybody who works as hard as he does,” Charlize said. “I had moments where I was truly blown away by the amount of work he has on his plate. He was not only writing, directing and producing this movie, he was also acting in it! He was pretty much in every frame.”

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