"I'm looking for something very specific," the mother of two said
Credit: Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Charlize Theron says her daughters now encourage her dating life and want to be involved in it
- The actress shared she doesn’t see herself living with a partner again but is open to change later
- Theron has long prioritized her daughters, Jackson and August, and is candid about parenting challenges as they grow older
Charlize Theron is sharing a glimpse into her dating life, and the unexpected role her daughters now play in it.
The Oscar-winning actress, 50, appeared this week on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she shared that her children have become some of her most enthusiastic supporters when it comes to romance.
“My kids are at an age now where they actually enjoy that I'm dating because they want to be involved,” Theron said. “It's really funny how I was scared they'd be threatened by it, and now they're like, ‘Mom, is he texting you? Like, go on the date, mom.’”
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That encouragement, however, does not translate into a desire for a more traditional living arrangement. Theron was clear about what she envisions and what she does not.
“I really mean this — people think I joke — I don't think I could ever live with somebody again,” she told host Drew Barrymore, 51. “I would love for you to be close, like buy the house down the street, but I don't know if I can.”
She added that her perspective could evolve over time. “Maybe it's because I still have my daughters in the house, and maybe that will change when I'm an empty nester, but I'm looking for something very specific,” she said.
Barrymore, who is also a mother of two, said she sees a shared perspective in Theron’s approach. “I love also prioritizing my kids and that has never felt like the wrong move for me, and you seem the same way,” she said.
“It's impossible not to. Your kids come first. They always come first,” Theron agreed.
The South African actress adopted her eldest daughter, Jackson, in 2012, and her younger daughter, August, now 11, in 2015. She has long spoken about her decision to build her family through adoption, emphasizing in a 2018 interview with PEOPLE that it was always her intention.
“Even when I was in relationships, I was always honest with my partners that adoption was how my family would look one day. This was definitely not a second option for me. It was always my first,” she said at the time.
She has also addressed the responsibilities she feels as a white mother raising two Black daughters. In a 2018 interview with ELLE, Theron said that growing up during apartheid in South Africa made her “hyperaware of equality and human rights,” and described the promise she made to herself as a parent.
Credit: Charlize Theron/Instagram
“I want them to know who they are, and I want them to be so f—ing proud of who they are,” she said.
More recently, the actress has been open about the realities of parenting older children. On the April 22 episode of the New Heights podcast, she offered a candid response when co-host Jason Kelce, 38 — a father of four young children — asked what lies ahead.
“They just turn into hormonal nightmares,” Theron joked. “Like, I'm getting my a– handed to me from the moment that I walk into the house.”
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In a separate interview, she also reflected on how her children can bring a sense of perspective to everyday moments.
At the premiere of her latest film Apex, Theron shared that her daughter August joined her during rock climbing training sessions with professional climber Beth Rodden.
“Sometimes, as an adult, you get so caught up in the mechanics of it,” Theron told E! News. “And then you just look over and these kids who know nothing, they're just like, ‘Gotta get to the top.’ And you're like, ‘Okay, that's all I have to do. Just get to the top.’”
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