Charlize Theron reflects on growing up when Aids was an unknown 'monster'

South African-born actress Charlize Theron has highlighted the reason why coming back to SA to help combat HIV/Aids and guide young people is so close to her heart,  having seen the fright the disease brought to her country.

During an interview with CNN, Charlize opened up about how growing up in SA at a time where people didn’t know much about HIV/Aids was a scary experience.

"I don't think that there's a child of my generation that didn't grow up with 'hush silences' and their parents or adults always whispering about this monster that nobody really knew anything about and people were dying at a degree that was really frightening. And I think that definitely 'marked' me as a child," she said.

The US-based actress, who is currently back in Mzansi through her Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, said  she was inspired by the likes of the late Princess Diana to come back home and help.

"When you look at the amount of people that are infected and how the Aids epidemic has ravaged sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade versus what's been happening in the Western world, how can you deny "that some lives are being valued more than others," Charlize said.

The actress also commented on the recent tragedy that occurred in Charlottesville, when Heather Heyer was killed by a car that ploughed into a group of people protesting against white supremacist groups marching in the Virginia city.

"I see racism alive and well and that scares me, it saddens me," she said.

Watch the interview here.