Charlize-Never Go Away Again

It's been three years since Oscar winner Charlize Theron was the lead in a film. And now she's back! On the cover of magazines, starring along CGIed Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe in Dior commercials, doing foul-mouthed interviews, and, most importantly, acting.  I caught her hour long interview with Piers Morgan a couple of months ago and it only whet my appetite. It's now official: I have Charlize fever!

This is now my desktop background. What's South African for goddess...

Like almost everyone, I didn't come to apprecaite Charlize as an actress until Monster. (If you say you were a fan from back in The Devil's Advocate days-I call bullshit) Of course, she was always beautiful. Being a 5'10" former model will do that. And she was always pleasant enough in films like Cider House Rules. But her performance in Monster really announced her presence as one of the finest actresses working today. Roger Ebert even famously said it was one the greatest performances ever caputured on film. So, it's good to see that she's back on screen in Jason Reitman's Young Adult. She's already getting positive reviews and hopefully it leads to a third Best Actress nomination. I'm seeing the movie this weekend and the more I see of Charlize the more I can't wait!

This week I finally watched this year's The Hollywood Reporter's Actress Roundtable Discussion. (This year wasn't nearly as good as last year when Annette Bening and Helena Bonham Carter named names, talked about projects that got away, and genereally had a lively, engaging conversation ) This year the real stand out was, you guessed it-Charlize. There she was delightfully cussing again, talking about learning the birds and bees from Fatal Attraction, and really being the only actress that sounded intelligent and willing to have a dicussion. (Sorry, Michelle Williams, you may be a good actress, but interviews are not your strong suit.) Charlize was so charming; I found myself falling more and more in love with her. So, just one request: Now that you're back, please stay.

And it looks like my Charlize love-a-thon isn't going away anytime soon. Because she looks amazing as the Queen in next summer's Snow White and the Huntsman. Is it wrong to root for the villian?