Esquire Dubs Theron Sexiest Woman Alive

(AP)  Beautiful and talented actress Charlize Theron has a new moniker: Sexiest Woman Alive, according to Esquire magazine.

Past winners of the title include Jessica Biel, Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson. The issue featuring Theron hits newsstands Oct. 16.

Theron spoke with the magazine about growing up on a farm, her political interests and her work, including her latest movie, "In the Valley of Elah," a murder mystery set among U.S. troops newly returned from Iraq.

"I wanted to make the movie precisely because it evades formulas about guilt," the 32-year-old actress said. "I'm drawn to ambiguity."

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Photos: Charlize Theron

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Theron also candidly discussed her least favorite film, "Reindeer Games."

"That was a bad, bad, bad movie," she said. "But ... I got to work with John Frankenheimer. I wasn't lying to myself -- that's why I did it."

Theron won an Oscar for her role in "Monster." Her screen credits also include "North Country," "The Cider House Rules," "The Italian Job, "The Legend of Bagger Vance," "Navy Diver," "The Yards" and "Sweet November."

At age 16, Theron began her career as a model at age in South Africa, where she was born and raised. She traveled to fashion capitals Milan, Paris and New York City to model. When her modeling contract was up, she stayed in New York City.

She attended Joffrey Ballet School, but her career as a ballet dancer ended due to a knee injury when she was 18. She then headed to L.A. to start her acting career.

Her father is of French Hugunot decent and her mother is of German decent.

Theron met longtime boyfriend Stuart Townsend on the film "Head In The Clouds" in 2004.

[keithle1]

This is meaningless hype. Magazines love to pick the "top 50 beautiful people" & the "top 20 richest people."

She doesn''t care about this. She doesn''t need it.

She can act. No question about that. If you don''t believe me, see "Monster" with Christina Ricci. She kicks butt in that. You can''t believe it''s her.

She has done her share of flops. Unfortunately, quality movies are rare. So many are lame, two-star affairs. "North Country" is very stale & predictable.

[toldyouso21]

Theron--has sort of a remote, ice queen beauty. Sexiest woman alive? I seriously doubt it. As a teen, I noted that the woman listed as "most beautiful in the world" or "sexiest woman alive" was severely flawed. I knew this, because no one ever saw the many, many extraordinarily beautiful women that lived in my city--they weren''t famous--but many could run circles around any star for beauty. As for ***--do they really mean sensual---or has this woman''s sexual prowess really been rated? And I KNOW that has to be a lie--because again, too many women with mad/crazy sexual skillz have not been polled or even put in the contest.

Maybe they should stick to "Sexiest star alive" "Most beautiful star alive" Or even more accurate, "Most popular in Hollywood" or "sexiest American star" it is beyond lame now--and on to tacky. I seriously doubt Theron or most stars are actually great lays with great skillz. The looks can only get you so far--then it is the moves and the prowess--as far as *** goes.

[rational_1]

An interesting choice particularly considering she''s 32 and would be considered "over the hill" by many. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and luckily all of us have slightly different visions of it (so we don''t all glom onto one person). I personally find her a very attractive woman, but one among many. A previous poster mentioned how she looked in Monster, but to be fair to her she gained a lot of weight for that role and had makeup applied specifically to make her look worse.

[mckoehn]

She is a beautiful woman, as are many others - in and out of Hollywood. Don''t fall into the trap of bashing women named on lists by men. That is a male game, and women shouldn''t bother to play it. We all know that some days we look great and other days we don''t. Beauty is subjective, it changes, and to make lists is a juvenile thing to do in the first place. I think Hollywood is about the worst place for women and their self-esteem. Don''t buy into the games.

[briannorwood]

Really? Some hollywood pencil neck gets a hard on for Therone and now she''s the sexiest woman in the world?

Excuse me while I puke!

[xzavierbrown]

wow!!! that is a handfull of useless information..
they way liberal hollywood judges people is by superficial beauty.

[downtowner97]

Do a Google image search for "Theron Monster" and you can see what she looks like without makeup. There are no ugly women in the world, just those who don''t know how to apply makeup.

[fibonacci_]

Is an actress always the sexiest person alive? What a joke.

[sharncedar]

Esquire is a g@y porn mag, far as I can tell. Who reads it, except Larry Craig and his buddies? Surprised they didn''t name a man to their ***-iest list.

[rudy2281]

She''s a cute kid, nothing more, nothing less. Lots of them in the world.