Charlize Theron opens up about her alcoholic dad

When she was 15-years-old her mother, Gerda, shot and killed her father after he came home and attacked his wife. And although that would traumatise many, Benoni-born actress, Charlize Theron, has said living with father, who was an alcoholic, far worse.

"I was floating through Europe, working as a model, and living a gypsy life. I pretended like it didn't happen. I didn't tell anybody. I used to say my dad died in a car accident. I didn't want to be a victim," she said during an interview with Howard Stern.

It was only in her late 20s, when her decade-long relationship with Stuart Townsend was coming to and end, did she seek therapy. Charlize admits that as much as that night was traumatic for everybody involved, it was in therapy that she realised living with her father really affected her. 

"The things that affected me was a child living with an alcoholic and not knowing what was going to happen and not knowing how my day was going to do. And all of it dependent on somebody else and whether he was going to drink or not."

In the lengthy interview with the infamous radio jock, Charlize said she doesn't like to dwell on things. She said her mother, who lives just up the road from her in the US, is a huge inspiration.

"Her philosophy was ‘This is horrible. Acknowledge that this is horrible. Now make a choice. Will this define you? Are you going to sink or are you going to swim?’ That was it."

She admitted that while both her and her mom have dealt with that night, it is coming to terms with how they lived their every day life that they still have to deal with.

The blonde bombshell, whose latest flick, Atomic Blonde, is due for release soon, also admitted that as a teenager she did not draw much male attention.

"I had a crush on a guy, Johan Botha, and bought a crushed velvet burgundy dress and he never asked me to the dance. I was shy and quiet. There was a lot in my life that I'm embarrassed about and I think kids can be brutal."