Charlize Theron Shares Why Becoming a Single Mom Was ‘One of the Healthiest Decisions’ for Her: ‘I Broke the Cycle’

Charlize Theron has no regrets about being a single mom.

While chatting with podcaster Alex Cooper, 30, on the Wednesday, July 2 episode of Call Her Daddy, The Old Guard actress, 49, opened up about life as a single mom of two. Theron, who is a mother to daughters August, 9, and Jackson, 12, called her decision to be a single mom “one of the healthiest decisions I ever made.”

“With women, it’s always like, something must be wrong with her. She can’t keep a man, and it’s never part of the discussion of like, ‘Wow. She’s really living her truth,’ ” she shared. “I look at them and just be like, ‘Do you know how f—— great it is to live exactly how I want to live, to experience motherhood exactly how I wanted to experience it?'”

“I know the next thing they say is like, ‘Well, that’s not fair on your kids.’ Can I tell you something? That will be their story to tell,” she continued. “I can only tell you that this is the best way that I know how to be a mother to them, and maybe they’ll grow up and tell their story, and I will respect that. I just know that this was the only way that I knew I could do it, and my f—— god do I love every single day of it. I love that I don’t have to share them with somebody.”

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“I love that I don’t have to run every f—— thing by a guy. I don’t. I love that I don’t well, oh my god. Co-parent. I like I f—— love that I don’t have to do any of that stuff,” she added. “I broke the cycle.”

Theron’s motherhood journey began in 2012 when she welcomed her daughter Jackson through adoption. Three years later, the Mad Max: Fury Road actress expanded her family again, welcoming her younger daughter August through adoption in 2015.

The star opened up to PEOPLE in 2018 about her decision to adopt and shared that adoption was always a top priority for her. She explained that she was largely inspired by her own upbringing in South Africa, which exposed her to orphanages and children in need in her community at a young age.

“Even when I was in relationships, I was always honest with my partners, that adoption was how my family would look one day,” Theron said. “This was definitely not a second option for me. It was always my first.”

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Though the world may know Theron for her unforgettable roles, Jackson and August have “zero respect” for her career achievements, as she said during a May 2025 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

“It’s just unbelievable, I feel like I’m pretty humble, but every once in a while I’m like ‘there’s a f—— Oscar right there.’ They are so not impressed with me,” she said.

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The actress appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday, June 24, where she revealed what her family and friends thought about the mullet she rocked while filming her new movie The Old Guard 2.

“I have two girls, and they’re very…they’re mostly very girly. And they think of me as a princess,” Theron said of her daughters. “And they want Mom to look like a princess.”

The star explains that her personal style tends to veer more into “edgy” and “masculine.”

“But they came back from school. I was in my bathroom and I was getting it cut and it had already been colored,” Theron remembered. “And I just remember looking over and they both came into the room really excited, and then they just both froze. And they just went…and one started crying.”

“One literally started bawling her eyes out,” she said. “And I had to actually sit down with her and say, ‘We all get to be who we want to be. And right now, Mom wants to wear a mullet.’ I don’t tell you what to do with your hair.”

“‘I still don’t like it,’ ” Theron said, mimicking one of her daughters.