ATOMIC BLONDE
Theron’s journey to action hero
Even before Charlize Theron showed up on screen as furious Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, she was developing her Atomic Blonde action persona.
Five years ago, she snapped up the rights to a soon-to-be published graphic novel called The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, which was her action template. Set in Berlin just before the Wall falls, the narrative revolves around operative Lorraine Broughton, who seems to have more enemies than friends as she tries to locate a missing file.
Atomic Blonde, the movie, is a great deal more visual and visceral and combatively intense than the book on which it’s based. And Theron’s Broughton comes across more neo-punk than Cold War efficient as she eliminates her foes with deadly precision to a synthesizer soundtrack from the 1980s.
It’s not like Theron hasn’t immersed herself in the dark side before. She won an Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster. And Furiosa has a take-no-prisoners attitude. But her latest role seems to have a heightened kind of fun in the pursuit of violence.
No doubt Theron knew what she was getting into when she hired David Leitch to direct the film, considering the fight mayhem that occurs regularly in Atomic Blonde. Indeed, it was Leitch and buddy Chad Stahelski who directed the Keanu Reeves as John Wick with assistance from their action production company 87Eleven. Leitch, the former Brad Pitt stuntman, has also been hired to direct Deadpool 2, mostly thanks to his stunt co-ordinating on Captain America: Civil War.
So it’s not a surprise that the 5-foot-10 Theron chose Leitch for the job of realizing her Blonde ambition. The selection also meant the actress spent at least three months before the shoot preparing for her mixed martial arts fight sequences, her gun battles and especially her elaborate stairwell altercation with multiple bad guys. She even sparred with Reeves at the 87Eleven facilities before filming.
The movie is not all about Theron’s Atomic Blonde, though. Toby Jones is her MI6 boss. John Goodman plays a laconic CIA type while James McAvoy appears as a quirky contact. Then there’s Sofia Boutella. She’s an inexperienced French agent who ends up having a steamy dalliance with the headliner.
Meanwhile, the pop music in the film is another elemental attraction. Adorning the stylized sequences are various tunes recalling the ’80s, including Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen, New Order’s Blue Monday and Father Figure by George Michael.
Obviously, though, Theron is at the centre, just like Reeves in John Wick and his most recent sequel last winter. And like Reeves, Theron looks like she’s equal to the demands.
After a successful career as a model, Theron was accustomed to being tested, making the transition into acting with her supporting roles in 1996’s 2 Days in the Valley and That Thing You Do! followed by, among other productions, The Devil’s Advocate (with Reeves) and The Cider House Rules.
Although her Academy Award for Monster changed her industry status, like most in the business she’s had hits and misses since. North Country earned her another Oscar nomination, but the critics weren’t kind to Snow White and the Huntsman nor its sequel, nor to A Million Ways to Die in the West. She recovered with the aforementioned Fury Road and this year’s The Fate of the Furious.
Now, she’s showing off more than just her acting chops and single-minded determination with the Atomic Blonde portrayal.
“She has exceptional athletic ability,” Leitch says of his star.
That fact had already been confirmed by George Miller, who directed her in the Mad Max reboot.
“As a former ballerina, Charlize brings all that physicality and a special awareness and discipline and sense of valuation through gestures,” Miller says. “Charlize is a very strong personality and has a spirit about her.”
Among other things, the actress credits her South African upbringing for her focus and resilience when the going gets rough on any set.
“There is a toughness to South Africans and a pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps philosophy that’s very South African,” Theron says, “So that always helps me.”