Charlize Theron had plenty to celebrate at the sixth annual Block Party benefiting the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) on Saturday night.
Nearly 20 years after founding CTAOP, the Oscar-winning actress reflected on its impact, which has helped close to 5 million people across South Africa – and on the overwhelming response to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and what it could signal for Hollywood going forward.
The film has become a box office phenomenon, grossing more than $1.6 billion worldwide since its mid-July debut and becoming Universal’s highest-grossing release ever. The demand has been especially intense for IMAX 70mm screenings, with showtimes selling out weeks in advance and some fans turning to the resale market to secure coveted tickets.
“It’s so rewarding to see that people do want to go to the theaters,” Theron told The Hollywood Reporter at the event. “They do want to go and see movies, and if we were ever questioning it, we shouldn’t anymore.”
Theron, who plays Calypso in Nolan’s epic, said the response has been particularly encouraging at a time when the industry remains uncertain about the future of moviegoing. “I do think my industry is really worried about where we are going and what’s happening,” she said. “I think we needed a little bit of this reminder that people do love to watch movies in the theater.”
And while Nolan has become one of the rare filmmakers capable of turning his name alone into a theatrical event, Theron hopes he won’t remain an exception. “Let’s hope he’s not the only,” she noted. “I know he hopes that he’s not the only one either. If anything, I think we should take encouragement from this. And I know that he, for sure, wants more of that.”
For Theron, however, the night’s biggest celebration was much closer to home.
Founded in 2007, CTAOP supports the health, safety and education of young people across South Africa. As the organization approaches its 20th anniversary next year, Theron said she is most proud of the relationships it has maintained with locally led partners, saying, “I think the evolution of where we started and how [is] we’ve just kind of listened and evolved over 20 years to help facilitate the need in that moment.”
That evolution has meant responding to changing needs on the ground, while expanding its work across education, HIV prevention, youth safety and support for LGBTQ+ youth. “You don’t do this work in a silo, and it’s not black and white,” Theron said. “When there’s a flood or COVID, you have to know how to pivot as an organization.”
“I’m proud of us because at the scale that we’re working, that’s a tough thing to do, but we’ve been able to manage that,” she continued. “We get to be partners to our partners through all of it — not just HIV, not just education, not just safety — but that we’re there for them no matter what.”
Theron pointed to the loss of international funding as one of the most significant challenges facing that work over the past year. “Losing international funds has really devastated not only South Africa, but I think all of this work all over the world,” she said. “But we can’t sit and dwell on that. I wish it was different, but it isn’t right now.” Faced with that loss, Theron said CTAOP is increasingly relying on the people who have sustained its work.
“It comes back to the community coming here, and if it wasn’t for them, absolutely, there’d be nothing,” she said. That message was at the heart of Theron’s remarks to the crowd Saturday night, where she thanked the supporters, volunteers and partners who have helped sustain CTAOP over the years.
“This isn’t just a party. This is proof – proof that when people decide to show up for each other again and again, year after year, something real gets built,” she said. And show up they did. The event raised nearly $1 million for CTAOP — along with support from guests including Nick Kroll, Natasha Lyonne, January Jones, Patton Oswalt and Skye P. Marshall — and featured a performance by Kid Cudi.
Theron also underscored the less visible work happening through CTAOP’s grassroots partners on the ground. “The work on the ground is hard. It’s unglamorous. It doesn’t trend,” she said. “It’s a nurse staying up two hours past her shift. It’s a counselor who sits with someone who is scared and makes sure they don’t feel alone.”
“It’s not charity. It’s commitment,” she continued. “It’s a commitment to a shared vision that a young person’s future is theirs to shape, no matter where they’re born. And that this world can be a place where everyone can thrive.”
That commitment is one Theron has balanced alongside a decades-long career and raising her two daughters, Jackson, 14, and August, 12. “I feel like I live such a blessed life, and I have real interests in things that I feel vibrant and excited about,” she told THR. “And I get to live my life as a mother, feeling like I can still fulfill those things.”
For Theron, that balance inevitably comes with trade-offs. “Compromise is always part of the game, but that’s OK,” she said. “If you met my two girls, you’d understand why it’s worth it. The compromise is worth it.”
As for what comes next, Theron’s biggest hope is that the work CTAOP is leading won’t be needed for another two decades. Asked about her goals for the next 20 years, she quickly responded, “I hope it’s not 20 years.”
“That would be my goal,” Theron added. “I hope it’s sooner.”
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