Charlize Theron says “pretty people get turned away first” from “meaty roles” in Hollywood

Charlize Theron is a proponent of speaking her mind — like the time she awesomely insisted she get the same pay as her co-star Chris Hemsworth for her work on The Huntsman, for example. However, her latest comments in her interview with British GQ about the downsides to being extremely attractive aren’t sitting well with some people on social media.

“Jobs with real gravitas go to people that are physically right for them and that’s the end of the story,” Charlize told the magazine. “How many roles are out there for the gorgeous, f*cking, gown-wearing eight-foot model? When meaty roles come through, I’ve been in the room and pretty people get turned away first.”

Charlize also addressed ageism in Hollywood:

However, it’s her former comments about beauty that some people are taking issue with:

One actress who spoke up about her comments is Princess Diary‘s Heather Matarazzo, who “wholeheartedly disagree[s]”:

In Heather’s piece, published in February of last year, she wrote about being rejected for a part after she had already been attached to the project because the director thought she “wasn’t f*ckable.”

“Even as I write this, I can still feel the pain, shame, and humiliation that came over me in that moment,” Heather wrote. “This is a part that I had been so excited to play. She was bold, witty, sarcastic, sexy, but more importantly, she had a deeper vulnerability underneath. She had layers, she was complex. . . It made me feel as though people wondered why I should even be taking up space.”

It’s clear that, in saying “pretty people get turned away first,” Charlize had a deeper point: that all women are scrutinized and judged heavily for their looks in Hollywood and being extremely attractive can lead to being seen as less “serious.” That’s certainly a problem as well. That said, Charlize’s comments have touched a nerve and we have a feeling people will be talking about it for a long time.