The Devil's Advocate Convinced Patty Jenkins That Charlize Theron Was The Only Choice For Monster
The tragic story and eventual downfall of Aileen Wuornos was told in shattering detail in "Monster," earning Charlize Theron the Academy Award for Best Actress for her stripped down portrayal of America's first known female serial killer. During a brutal spree of murders over the course of one year in 1989, Wournos turned the tables on her would-be attackers, killing seven men who had propositioned her for sex. Wuornos had gone through an abusive childhood and turned to sex work early on in her deeply-troubled life. Of course, these men didn't necessarily deserve their fate, but through her streak of killings, Wournos upended the classic serial killer structure where men usually turned unsuspecting women into their victims.
When director Patty Jenkins ("Wonder Woman") began trying to get "Monster" off the ground, the budget was only $1 million and no distributor was attached. Jenkins was a first-time writer and director who did manage to befriend Wournos while she was awaiting her execution in prison. According to a conversation with the Toronto Star in the wake of Theron's critical accolades when "Monster" was sweeping awards season, Jenkins originally intended for Wournos to be involved with the film in some capacity.
In a stunning move the night before her execution, Wournos gave Jenkins all of her personal letters that she had written to a childhood friend over the previous 12 years. It was a moving gesture that inspired Jenkins to go after the A-list talent she knew she needed to tell Wuornos' story with the care and respect it deserved. Flipping through the channels one night, Jenkins discovered Charlize Theron in one of her early powerhouse performances in director Taylor Hackford's 1997 supernatural horror movie "The Devil's Advocate." Pretty much right away, Jenkins knew she had found the right actor for the role.
You're so 'unvain'
Charlize Theron's performance in "The Devil's Advocate," in which she plays a character haunted and tortured by demonic spirits, absolutely stands out. There's one scene, in particular, that made Patty Jenkins realize Theron would be perfect to play Aileen Wuornos. "It was this extreme closeup of Charlize with red eyes, all puffy, and snot coming out of her nose, which is so unvain," Jenkins told the Toronto Star. "And I just looked at the TV and said, 'Charlize could do it.'"
The physical transformation that Theron underwent to play Wournos convincingly is now the stuff of Hollywood legend, but Jenkins recognized her potential well before that. Reportedly, Kate Winslet and Brittany Murphy were also interested in the role, so Jenkins started feeling confident that she could go for her ideal choice first. "I said, okay, now you have to get a no from Charlize before I can choose somebody else." Seeing the sweet, doomed chemistry between Theron and Christina Ricci in the finished film, it's hard to imagine another performer giving Wuornos that kind of pathos while also feeling a little bit dangerous.
Jenkins wasn't aware of Theron's own childhood trauma at the time, but she saw something that no one else did. "There are people who know the darkness, and people who don't," Jenkins said. "There aren't a lot of actresses in Hollywood, I think, who have that in them. That understanding. That depth." Theron reached an entirely new echelon in the acting world after "Monster," coming off a performance that legendary critic Roger Ebert called "one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema." One only hopes that Jenkins eventually returns to her roots as an indie filmmaker and finds something that speaks to her as deeply as Aileen's story did.