At 16, she won a local modelling contest and travelled to Milan. Theron took instantly to modelling, being described as a complete natural, and followed up her Italian stint by going to New York with Pauline's Model Management agency.
However, Charlize was soon disillusioned with modelling. Having decided to stay on in New York, Theron decided instead to pursue ballet, her first love.
Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented her from taking this dream further, but her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 1994 -- and the rest is the stuff of biopics.
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