Theron was born in Benoni, South Africa. She is the only child of Gerda and Charles Theron. Her ancestry includes French, German, and Dutch and her French forebears were early settlers in South Africa.
Theron's career began at age 16 when she began modeling and moved to Milan, Italy. A year later she came to the US and after struggling in New York, moved to LA. A short time later she got her first role in a film in Children of the Corn III. Her career took off from there.
Although Theron is not a Jew, she has been spotted wearing a red string bracelet, a sign of her connection to Kabbalah.
