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-	Charlize brings her award home

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I was fortunate enough to be in South Africa earlier this month when Charlize Theron arrived back in her home country fresh from her Best Actress Oscar win.

I wasn't lucky enough to meet her in person, but her presence was felt throughout the country. Her photograph was on the cover of every magazine and newspaper you could possibly lay your eyes on and she was the main topic of conversation on every TV and radio show. In her first interview on her return to South Africa, Charlize was given the red carpet treatment and serenaded by local artist PJ Powers before being lead through a crowd of fans to the recording studios of local station M-Net.

Not since the Springboks won the Rugby world cup in 1995 has such a public demonstration of national pride been seen in South Africa. Accompanied by her mother Gerda, Charlize was taken on a nostalgic trip from her childhood to her rise to fame by interviewer, Ruda Landman. In the studio audience were two of Charlizes former childhood dance teachers, who were invited up to share their earliest memories of her, and it didnt take long before Charlize was answering questions in her native language, Afrikaan. It was rather disorientating to hear her talk in Afrikaan- her change of tone; style and pace brought out an unfamiliar acuity about Charlize rarely ever seen by her American public.

Now and then you could hear her American accent creeping in, but was perfectly acceptable considering the amount of time she has had to keep it up through her acting career in the States. Throughout the interview Charlize kept the focus on her work, discussing her award winning performance in Monster- where she plays serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and tactfully avoided talking about her partner in crime, boyfriend and fellow actor Stuart Townsend. After the interview was over Charlize and her mother returned back to their suite at the Westcliffe Hotel to enjoy some well-deserved rest and relaxation.