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Charlize Theron Says Playing Megyn Kelly Was Difficult, But Ultimately ‘A Story Worth Telling’

   DailyWire.com
Charlize Theron attends Caruso's Palisades Village opening gala at Palisades Village on September 20, 2018 in Pacific Palisades, California.
Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

When approaching her role in Lionsgate’s “Bombshell,” actress Charlize Theron was apprehensive, reports CNN.

“This was not a person who was easy for me to wrap my arms around,” Theron said at a recent panel in L.A.

From afar it looks like we have nothing in common – obviously, I’m a liberal and a lot of these women have said things that have been deeply upsetting to me. But at the same time, as a woman, understanding what each of them went through and understanding what Megyn was facing, especially in those two weeks where she didn’t step forward and she didn’t support Gretchen [Carlson], that’s when I emotionally tapped into her because I started to see similarities between us, dare I say that.

“Bombshell,” a film that chronicles the downfall of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes after allegations of sexual misconduct, stars Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. It was written by Charles Randolph, who co-wrote 2015’s “The Big Short,” and directed by Jay Roach, who directed political dramas “All The Way” and “Game Change.”

“I saw a woman with ambition, with drive, and all of a sudden I realized, ‘S***, this is the kind of stuff that’s been weaponized against me. I relate to that.’ That’s when it became clear to me just how important this story was,” Theron stated. “Because if we can see the power of the message through someone who we may not agree with or somebody who might even anger us, that tells you there’s something real there.”

Theron added that it was difficult to analyze Megyn Kelly as a person because so much of the available footage of the former Fox News anchor is from her doing her job as a journalist.

Theron had previously discussed the role, and the way in which actors are supposed to engage with character research, with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, saying:

You forget sometimes – all of us do this – we think we know people, we have our preconceived ideas of them. As an actor, you have to have that ability to put all of that aside and do research, and to actually find out about somebody.

Theron added that there were certain aspects of the part that “bothered” her. It wasn’t until she came to the understanding that the movie was a portrait of the women who took on an alleged abuser at Fox News, rather than a Megyn Kelly biopic, that it “felt … like a story worth telling.”

In her 2016 memoir “Settle for More,” Kelly describes an incident that allegedly took place in January 2006: “Roger called me up to New York and we had a shocking exchange. I was nervous about going into his office, concerned he might start in again. Sure enough he did. And then he crossed a new line – trying to grab me repeatedly and kiss me on the lips.”

Kelly also claims that Ailes had made sexually charged comments toward her. The Fox News anchor left the network in January 2017.

In July 2016, former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who is played by Nicole Kidman in “Bombshell,” sued Ailes for sexual harassment. Two months later, the suit was settled, and Carlson was paid $20 million.

Announcing the settlement of the suit, 21st Century Fox issued a statement that read in part: “We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of our colleagues deserve.”

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