It’s a big night for Charlize Theron who has arrived at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in downtown Los Angeles where she’s in the running for Best Actress for her portrayal of former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in Bombshell.
On top of being recognized for her acting, Theron produced the film which is nominated for Best Ensemble – the guild equivalent of the Oscar for Best Picture.
Though it led the charge in SAG nominations, Bombshell is up against stiff competition for the biggest award of the night, sitting alongside The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Parasite.
Theron attracted a slew of photographers her way as she stepped onto the SAG grey carpet today in a stunning Givenchy Haute couture ensemble and Tiffany and Co. jewelry.
Bombshell depicts the sexual harassment Kelly (as played by Theron) and several other women experienced from Fox News founder Roger Ailes. Both of Theron’s co-stars, Nicole Kidman, who plays Gretchen Carlson, and Margot Robbie, who plays a fictional up-and-coming news anchor, are also recognized in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Running alongside Theron for the coveted Best Actress award, which is the next big indicator of who’ll have Oscars glory come February, is Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Lupita Nyong’o (Us), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) and Renee Zellweger who won the Golden Globe for playing Judy Garland in the biopic Judy.
For the role, Theron wore facial prosthetics to change the structure of her eyelid area and lost her voice in the process of adapting to Kelly’s signature, low-pitched tone and fast-paced speaking cadence. Though Kelly is still a high-profile journalist in the US, Theron told the BBC that she deliberately avoided meeting her ahead of filming.
“It took me a while to wrap my head around playing [Kelly] for many reasons,” she said. But I think the biggest one is that she’s so well known. And it’s contemporary, it’s of this moment, and whether you like her or not, you know her face, you know what she sounds like, and there was really no getting around that.”
