Fact: Charlize Theron deserved an Oscar in 2016. Her performance as Furiosa in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road goes right up there in the upper echelon of all-time female action heroes, right alongside Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor, Pam Grier’s Foxy Brown, Michelle Yeoh’s Yu Shu Lien, and Uma Thurman’s The Bride. Hell, she’s one of the only reasons why this writer has any interest in sitting through the forthcoming sequel The Fate of the Furious.
Needless to say, Theron’s in demand right now for the genre, and one project of hers that has this writer spinning in his seat is Atomic Blonde. Directed by David Leitch, who was half responsible for 2015’s John Wick, the film adapts the graphic novel The Coldest City and finds Theron playing a spy who’s been sent on a dangerous mission to Berlin. James McAvoy also co-stars, coming off one of his strongest roles to date in M. Night Shyamalan’s surprise hit Split.
Here’s the official synopsis:
“The crown jewel of Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence Service, Agent Lorraine Broughton (Theron) is equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on her impossible mission. Sent alone into Berlin to deliver a priceless dossier out of the destabilized city, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (McAvoy) to navigate her way through the deadliest game of spies.”
Today, Entertainment Weekly released a few photos from the film, which debuts this weekend at South by Southwest (look for our review on Sunday night), and also spoke with Theron about the role. “Let’s be honest, I got my ass handed to me every day,” she told the publication about her training. “I cracked through two of my teeth in the back of my mouth from clenching so much that I had to have massive dental surgery right before we left for Budapest to shoot the film.”
See if you can see the broken teeth in these photos:
Atomic Blonde hits theaters on July 28th. Again, stay tuned for our SXSW review this weekend.
