Claim: Charlize Theron received critical acclaim for playing a serial killer in Monster.

Charlize Theron -LRB- -LSB- ʃɑːrˈliːz_ˈθɛrən -RSB- or -LSB- ʃɑrˈliːs_ˈθɛərən -RSB- ; -LSB- ʃarˈlis trɔn -RSB- ; born 7 August 1975 -RRB- is a South African-American actress and film producer . She has starred in several Hollywood films , such as The Devil 's Advocate -LRB- 1997 -RRB- , Mighty Joe Young -LRB- 1998 -RRB- , The Cider House Rules -LRB- 1999 -RRB- , Monster -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , The Italian Job -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , Hancock -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , A Million Ways to Die in the West -LRB- 2014 -RRB- , Mad Max : Fury Road -LRB- 2015 -RRB- and The Fate of the Furious -LRB- 2017 -RRB- .   Theron received critical acclaim for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , for which she won the Academy Award , Silver Bear , Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress among several other accolades , becoming the first South African to win an Academy Award in a major acting category . She received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance in the sexual harassment-themed drama North Country in 2005 and a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in Jason Reitman 's 2011 film Young Adult .   Theron became a U.S. citizen in 2007 , while retaining her South African citizenship . In the late 2000s , she moved into the field of producing , both in television and film . In 2006 , she produced the documentary East of Havana . She had producing credits on the films The Burning Plain -LRB- 2008 -RRB- and Dark Places -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , both of which she starred in . In 2012 , she played Queen Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman and Meredith Vickers in Prometheus , both of which were box office successes . She reprised her role of Queen Ravenna in the 2016 follow-up film The Huntsman : Winter 's War . In 2016 , Time Magazine named her in the annual Time 100 most influential people list .