Ross King: Some monkey business with a proper Charlize Theron

Ross King with Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey

IF you believe some celebrity magazines, all the big Hollywood stars only eat food we’ve never heard of.

Organic quinoa grown on the foothills of Tibet. Dew sooked from the leaves of Morrocan palm trees. Martian salt.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I met Mad Max star Charlize Theron last week.

I interviewed both her and Matthew McConaughey.

That’s right, they wanted a bombshell and a true detective to be interviewed by a bombscare and true defective!

Matthew and Charlize are providing the voices in a new animated adventure, called Kubo And The Two Strings, which is out in the UK next month.

I want to give all my attention to Charlize this week – and every week, frankly – so I’ll bring you more from my chat with Matthew next Sunday.

But there was a great moment before the interview started with Charlize.

Without skipping a beat she whipped out a packet of Cheetos – those Wotsit-like crisps you get in the supermarket – and proceeded to wolf them down.

I was impressed. This was like seeing Tom Cruise wire into a Tunnock’s Teacake, or Beyonce break out the Bourbon creams.

Charlize even breathed on Matthew McConaughey and asked if he could smell the spicy crisps!

I was told before our chat that Matthew played a beetle and Charlize was a monkey – so I initially thought it was going to be a music biopic.

It’s not though – it is actually a gorgeous stop-motion animation from a company called Laika, makers of the critically-acclaimed movies Coraline and The Boxtrolls.

But what were the film-makers thinking – you get someone as gorgeous as Charlize…and cast her as a chimp?

“I got a call from Travis (Knight, Laika’s boss) and I was a big fan of Laika and what they were doing so I said I would love to meet him,” explained Charlize.

“He started pitching the character and it sounded great, then he ended it with, ‘Oh, and she’s a monkey…’

“I had a moment where I was taken aback. It took me by surprise. I knew I’d have to dig deep to play a monkey!”

OK fellas, that’s enough Charlize. We need to keep the women happy – I’ll have more from movie hunk Matthew McConaughey next week.

Stay tuned!

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