Charlize Theron’s motherhood dramedy “Tully” and action film “Atomic Blonde” don’t necessarily have much in common, but the movies happen to mark two consecutive years in which Theron has led a movie without much interference from her male-costars. Theron tells The Associated Press that she was super grateful to work on both projects with actors like James McAvoy and Ron Linvingston, neither of whom had a problem stepping into the background and letting Theron take charge.
“Sometimes you’re super grateful when you get that. A lot of men won’t do that for women,” Theron said. “I’m just grateful whenever a man will walk on, and I had this with James McAvoy on ‘Atomic Blonde,’ when you have a guy who is like, ‘Yeah, I’m here to support you, and I’m OK with that.’”
Theron joined her “Tully” co-star Mackenzie Davis for the AP interview, and the “Blade Runner 2049” and “San Junipero” actress agreed that it’s not every set where male actors are so willing to take the attention off themselves and let women be the star.
“It is so hard to find a good actor who has some career trajectory who is willing to play a secondary part,” Davis said.
“And that’s wrong,” Theron added. “Ron [Livingston] showed up every single day [on ‘Tully’] so invested in the whole thing. When a man does that it means a lot to me.”
Davis concluded: “It’s putting your money where your mouth is.”
Theron and Davis have earned critical acclaim for their performances Jason Reitman’s “Tully.” The Focus Features release, written by “Juno” Oscar winner Diablo Cody, is now playing in theaters.