Meet Charlize Theron's new man

Charlize Theron appears to be comfortable juggling work and motherhood. Photography: Nino Munoz Source: Sunday Magazine

WITH her baby boy on her hip and Hollywood movies under her belt, Charlize Theron is relishing the role of her lifetime.

Charlize Theron has played her fair share of challenging roles, but now she can add 'new mum' to a resume that includes model, Oscar-winner, businesswoman and producer. In March, the statuesque South African revealed she'd adopted a baby boy, Jackson, from her home country. She's been relishing motherhood ever since.

"It's amazing," she says with a smile. "It's everything you always hear it is. You have no idea your heart can carry that much love - and then, in other ways, it feels as if it was always meant to be that way. Me and this little guy, we were always meant to be."

Despite a work schedule that even the most hardworking star might blanch at - with sci-fi drama Prometheus in cinemas next month, Snow White & the Huntsman out soon after and another three films in the pipeline, including the much talked about new Mad Max - the 36-year-old appears unfazed about juggling motherhood and movies.

"Other mums have said to me there's never a right time," she explains with a shrug.

"You always think you want to do it at the perfect time, but there's no such thing. It happens, and all of a sudden, you realise you can function on a lot less sleep than you thought. You make it work. It's easy - almost.

"I'm in the first couple of months of bliss," she adds. "And I had the first couple of months just for us. I'm slowly starting to get back to this world and start working."

When we meet, she certainly doesn't look as if she's struggling with sleepless nights. She credi! ts her f resh face to "tons of Botox. And vodka," she says laughing.

"No, I try to eat well, especially now. I don't want to get sick. I'm not a couch potato. I like a hamburger every once in a while, but I don't eat that way every day."

No wonder. Many of her movie roles have required her to don skin-tight outfits (most memorably the black bodysuit in 2005's Aeon Flux), and the character of Meredith Vickers in Prometheus - Ridley Scott's much-anticipated movie about the origins of mankind - is no different. She stars alongside Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Noomi Rapace.

At this defining time in her life, Theron was inspired by the enormous themes of the film. "It was a story I wanted to be part of. I liked the all-consuming questions, such as 'How did we all get here?' It felt brave."

She describes Vickers as the "quintessential bureaucrat. She's cold, distant, kind of creepy. She's not a believer or a scientist, but she's playing a game... And of course there's some running - it's a Ridley Scott film after all."

Theron loved filming at the UK's legendary Pinewood Studios, which is lucky since it was also the location for Snow White & the Huntsman, co-starring Kristen Stewart.

"I doubt I'll experience anything like it again in my career," says Theron.

"As Ridley was wrapping Prometheus, the Snow White production was taking over. Vickers' spaceship was being broken down to build my other character's castle. For a while, I felt I was the reigning queen of Pinewood Studios," she adds with a grin. "It was pretty incredible."

You'd think she'd be used to the incredible by now. Raised by her mum, Gerda (at the age of 15, Theron witnessed her mother shooting her abusive father in self-defence), she won a modelling competition at 16 and jetted off to Milan.

At 19, she moved to New York to attend ballet school, until a knee injury forced her to give up plans to become a professional dancer ! and she relocated to LA. While having an argument with a bank teller, she was spotted by a talent agent and, in 1995, cast in her first movie, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest.

Fast-forward nine years and she won the 2004 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Monster.

In February 2010, she split with her partner of almost a decade, actor Stuart Townsend. Then she went straight into filming the Diablo Cody/Jason Reitman movie Young Adult.

"It was shot in 30 days and on a much smaller budget than Prometheus," she recalls. "I have to say, I love not being in a trailer all day; I like being onset and shooting. I'm bad at waiting around," she explains with a laugh. "I don't have an attention span to sit and wait in a room.

"I love the gypsy life, which is an integral part of film-making," she adds. "I enjoy throwing a bunch of strangers in one environment. Don't get me wrong; I love having my home, but I like being on location."

Theron explains her love of exploration is inherited from her mum. "She had a real interest in the world and instilled that curiosity in me. Part of me really yearns for that searching for other cultures."

And now it's Theron's turn to instil the same curiosity in her own child, although for the time being, their focus is closer to home. "Last night, we had a discussion about the fabric hanging over his bed," she says. "He was fascinated, staring at it. I was getting envious because he wouldn't look at me - I'm better than that fabric ceiling!"

But Jackson finds his mum fascinating, too. "I don't read him fairy stories," she reveals. "I'm making up crap stories right now because he doesn't know the difference; he sees my mouth move and thinks I'm amazing. I'm like, 'The ceiling is green!' 'Look at my pretty face!' 'I'm a monster!' He thinks it's the best thing ever."

Prometheus is in cinemas June 6. Snow White & the Huntsman is out June 21.