Honestly, it’s still hard to wrap your head around it. You look at Charlize Theron in Monster and then you look at her on a red carpet, and the brain just short-circuits. It’s not just the weight or the teeth. It’s the way she carries her shoulders like she’s expecting someone to hit her.
The aileen wuornos movie charlize Theron starred in wasn’t supposed to be a blockbuster. In fact, it almost went straight to VHS at Blockbuster. Imagine that. One of the most haunting performances in cinema history nearly ended up in a bargain bin because distributors thought it was too dark.
Why the Aileen Wuornos Movie Charlize Starred in Changed Everything
Before 2003, Hollywood saw Charlize Theron as the "pretty girl." She was the lead in The Italian Job and The Cider House Rules. Then Patty Jenkins—long before she was doing Wonder Woman—showed up with a script about a roadside serial killer.
Theron didn't just play Aileen. She basically disappeared. People talk about the 30-pound weight gain like it was the whole story, but it was really just the tip of the iceberg. She stopped exercising. She ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts until she felt sluggish. Why? Because Aileen Wuornos didn't have a gym membership. She had a life of "road grime" and cheap beer.
The makeup artist, Toni G, used layers of hand-painted splotches to ruin Theron’s "creamy skin." They used a prosthetic overbite that forced Theron to speak differently. If you watch the movie closely, you’ll notice her eyes. Theron realized that when Aileen got intense, she didn’t squint—she widened them. It was a "don't mess with me" stare born from living on the streets since she was 13.
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The Real Aileen vs. the Movie Version
The movie Monster focuses on the year between 1989 and 1990. This is when Aileen killed seven men in Florida. Most people know she claimed self-defense. The film shows the first killing of Richard Mallory as a brutal response to a horrific assault.
In real life, Mallory actually had a history of attempted rape, but the judge wouldn't let the jury hear that.
- Selby Wall vs. Tyria Moore: In the movie, Christina Ricci plays Selby. In reality, her name was Tyria Moore.
- The Arrest: It happened at a biker bar called "The Last Resort."
- The Betrayal: Tyria Moore eventually worked with the police to get a confession out of Aileen over the phone.
The film captures that heartbreaking phone call where Aileen realizes her girlfriend is turning on her. Aileen basically confesses just to keep Tyria out of trouble. It’s a gut-wrenching moment. You’ve got this woman who has been failed by every man in her life, and the one person she loves is the one who hands her over to the executioner.
Sorting Fact from Fiction in Monster
Patty Jenkins spent years researching this. She even got access to letters Aileen wrote from death row to her childhood friend, Dawn Botkins. That’s where the "human" side of the movie comes from.
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A lot of true crime movies make the killer look like a genius, like Hannibal Lecter. Aileen wasn't a genius. She was a woman who was "down to her last $5" in the opening scene of the movie. She was impulsive. She was angry.
The movie doesn't excuse the murders. How could it? She killed men who were just trying to help her, like the character played by Scott Wilson. That’s the tragedy of it. By the time someone "good" showed up, Aileen was already too far gone. She saw everyone as a threat.
The Legacy of the Performance
When Theron won the Oscar in 2004, it wasn't just a win for her. It was a win for a type of filmmaking that doesn't blink. Roger Ebert called it "one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema."
He wasn't wrong.
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You can still feel the impact today. Every time an actress "de-glams" for a role, they're chasing what Theron did in the aileen wuornos movie charlize made famous. But few actually pull it off because they focus on the "ugly" and forget the "human."
Aileen was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002. She never saw the movie. She actually died thinking everyone was just out to make a buck off her story. In some ways, she wasn't wrong, but Jenkins and Theron at least tried to find the person buried under the "monster" label.
Practical steps for those interested in the real history:
- Watch the Documentaries: If you want the unvarnished Aileen, watch Nick Broomfield's Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer. It shows the circus that surrounded her trial.
- Read the Court Transcripts: To see how the "self-defense" argument actually played out in a legal setting, the Florida Supreme Court records are available online.
- Check the Timeline: Realize that the "first female serial killer" label was mostly a media invention—there were others before her, but she was the first to fit the "highway killer" archetype usually reserved for men.
The aileen wuornos movie charlize gave us is more than just a crime flick. It’s a study in how society creates the very things it fears. Aileen wasn't born a killer; she was shaped into one by a lifetime of systemic failure and personal trauma. The movie just forces us to look at the finished product and ask how we let it happen.