Charlize Theron

Yeah, I did well.

Did you feel equipped?

Yeah, I was so equipped.

I mean, I knew how to take care of myself.

That's just something my mom instilled in me, my lifestyle instilled in me, my country did.

Like, you just, you know how to take care of yourself.

You know how to cook.

And even in our school, they teach you how to sew.

I mean, I know more than my kids will ever know as adults, you know, about taking care of myself.

And I also had this real drive that I wanted to do it on my own terms.

Like, I didn't want to go out there.

She had given me a credit card, but I was so determined to do this on my own and to not fail because I didn't want to go back.

I didn't want to go back.

So I was running from a lot of stuff, and I was happy to escape it.

And you come to America and you're a dancer and you're studying at the Joffrey Ballet and you have a pretty serious injury or... It was a built up.

A built up thing that you just sort of ended up not being able to dance anymore.

Yeah.

Yeah, it was like a consistent injury that showed up, my knees.

I was too tall to be a dancer.

And by the time I got to Joffrey, I was mainly taking class.