Charlize Theron: Bowled Over

Charlize Theron achieved siren status with 2 days in the valley, and now she plays Keanu Reeve's wife in Devil's Advocate. But unlike most starlets=on-the-rise, this dish is full of spice. Here, she cuts loose on what it was like doing sex scenes with Reeves and how she's had to deal with Hollywood sleaze--from shabby hotels to dirtbag directors.

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New-beauty-on-the-HoIIywood-block Charlize Theron wants to be interviewed while tossing bowling balls. Hey, I'm game. But when she hits the lanes at a Santa Monica bowling alley, the 22-year-old seems traumatized by the fashion disaster that's going on at foot level.

"These are the ugliest shoes in the world," she groans.

"They make them ugly so people won't walk off with them," I point out.

"Like I don't already look like an idiot when I bowl," says the 5-foot-9 blonde. "I'm too big and when I bend down I look like a grasshopper trying to eat or something."

After scoring her first strike, Theron, who looks nothing like a grasshopper, says, "I get lucky in the beginning and then I just start sucking."

If there's anyone who should know about luck it's Theron. She moved to Europe from her hometown of Benoni, South Africa, at age 16 to pursue modeling, but ended up in New York City studying ballet at the Joffrey. One knee injury (and a brief relocation to Miami) later she was on a plane to L.A. to pursue movie stardom. One year after that she landed the plum role of Helga the hit woman opposite James Spader and Teri Hatcher in last year's crime comedy 2 days in the valley. She then cranked out small roles in Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do! and Trial and Error. And now she's playing Keanu Reeves's wife in Taylor Hackford's Devil's Advocate, a thriller about a hotshot attorney who has a devil of a boss. Next summer, she'll be the star of the big-budget Mighty Joe Young, a remake of the '49 classic about a girl living in Africa, and her 15-foot-tall performing gorilla. It may be an ape flick, but it's her ape flick.

As Theron scores her second strike, it hits me that she may not suck anytime soon.

DENNIS HENSLEY: Is it true that you had an affair with James Spader while making 2 days in the valley?

CHARLIZE THERON: No, the tabloids ran pictures of me with him and said he was leaving his wife and kids for me. I was the Blonde Girl Who Came on the Set. They didn't even know I was an actress working on the set.

Q: But they did when the movie came out because you knocked everyone's socks off.

A: The fact that people still remember me from that film really surprises me because when I first saw it, I honestly thought that was going to be it-- Hollywood was over for me.

Q: What's your character like in Devil's Advocate?

A: I play Mary Ann Lomax, Keanu's wife. She and Keanu are from Gainesville, Florida, bt they move to New York City when he gets offered a great new job at a law firm. Her only passion is to start a family, and then she finds out she can't get pregnant.

Q: Keanu shoots blanks?

A: It's her problem. It's actually the Devil, played by Al Pacino, who's sabotaging them. She's the only one who knows what's going on and everybody starts thinking she's going crazy. Finally, Keanu puts her in a madhouse.

Q: Did you land Devil's Advocate because of your performance in 2 days?

A: Actually, they were saying, "You're too beautiful for the part." Which is a killer, because it's something I can't control--it's not like they're saying, "Wear another dress." And frankly, I think that's a very bad excuse. Of course, I know there are some parts I could never play, but I think it's all about what's inside. So I had to do four screen tests.

Q: Did you roll around in the dirt before the audition?

A: I'd wake up at six and really beat myself up. I'd wear no makeup and dirty hair to the audition, and then cry my heart out in the screen test. I don't think I've ever wanted a part as badly as I wanted this one.

Q: Do you and Keanu have a love scene?

A: Yes. We're husband and wife, Dennis.

Q: That doesn't necessarily mean you get it on--ask anyone who's married.

A: Well, our love scene is really interesting. It starts with me just leaning against this wall and he comes over and starts kissing me and then he puts me down on the floor. I hate it when there are love scenes in a movie and you go, "Why did that just happen?" Sex in films, to me, is there to cause an effect and that's what this love scene is all about.

Q: So shooting it was a good thing?

A: Anything naked with Keanu is a good thing.

Q: You were naked?

A: Well, Dennis, when you make love, you have to be naked.

Q: Sometimes you hear how actors wear sweatpants or little socks.

A: [Laughs and shakes her head "no" as she picks up her purple bowling ball] Keanu was so comfortable with his body and he was so funny while we were shooting sex scenes that I would sit completely naked and laugh, and then a half hour later finally say, "Where's my robe?"

Q: So what's the funniest thing he said to you during the sex scenes?

A: There was one point where I was completely naked and he had all his clothes on. Well, I had an idea to hook my toes into his pants and pull them down, and it just didn't work on the first take. So he got up and he's all flushed and all of a sudden he looks like he's on the stage at the Comedy Store and he goes, "Isn't it funny how you sometimes find yourself making love to your wife and she's naked but you're still wearing all your clothes?" Shit like that would just crack me up.

Q: I guess you had to be there. So did you ever get his pants off?

A: Well, after all that happened, his pants were on his hips and I just undid them.

Q: With your toes?

A: That I did with my tongue. No, Dennis--I used my hands.

Q: Well, I don't know. Anything else I should know about Keanu?

A: Just that he's just about the sweetest guy you'll ever meet in Hollywood. He's the most polite person I've ever met in my life. Everything is "please" and "thank you" to everyone on the set, and I thought that was pretty impressive. A lot of people think of him as someone who can't put two and two together, but he's very smart and intellectual. I couldn't believe how funny he was--he made me laugh every single day.

Q: Well, that's it. [The first game's over and I've beat Theron 146 to 101]

A: I can't believe you kicked my ass. Well, I haven't bowled in it a long time. I used to come here like a year ago with my ex-boyfriend.

Q: I bet your ex was a curve-ball guy. Those types get all the chicks.

A: No, he wasn't. Isn't that depressing? I've never dated a curve-ball guy.

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