“They Thought of Me as Someone Who Was Depressing”. Charlize Theron Starred in Arrested Development Because of Big Movie Flop
Charlize Theron decided to appear in Arrested Development after starring in a sci-fi film that promised to be a flop. And indeed, the cinematic spectacle starring her was a failure.
Charlize Theron followed up her Oscar success with the 2003 film Monster with a major setback. She starred in the complete flop that is Aeon Flux, a 2005 sci-fi production that not only involved substantial losses, but was crushed in reviews.
The actress sensed disaster even before the film reached audiences, and immediately took steps to somehow get rid of her distaste for Aeon Flux by starring in the hit TV series, of which she herself was a fan. She joined the cast of Arrested Development in its third season and starred in five episodes, playing the love interest of Michael Bluth.
She talked about how important it was for her to star in Arrested Development during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
It was one of the scariest things, to walk onto a set of a show that’s so developed and so brilliant. But I think I needed that, to put myself out there in a different way, because people thought of me as someone who was f***ing depressing, like my mother shot my father. [When Theron was 15, her dad came home drunk and threatened her and her mom with a gun, prompting her mother to shoot and kill him in what officials later determined was self-defense.] And I just f***ing loved that show, and this is going to sound so “poor me,” but I do feel like sometimes, as women, we get one shot and I knew that [the 2005 action flick] Aeon Flux was going to be a f***ing flop. I knew it from the beginning, that’s why I did Arrested Development.
Aeon Flux's budget was reportedly $55-62 million, and the film managed to earn only $53 million, meaning that the production did not pay off and involved substantial losses for the studio. The lack of interest for this sci-fi spectacle is not at all surprising, given that reviewers had no mercy for it and on Rotten Tomatoes it has a mere 9% positive ratings from critics. On the audience side, things don't look much better on both RT and IMDb, where Karyn Kusama's production has a rating of 5.4.
Fortunately, the results of Aeon Flux have not taken a toll on Theron's career, which continues to grow and enjoy further success.
