As a young girl Charlize Theron saw Darryl Hannah in Splash and she was convinced that she would make a better mermaid. Ever since, she has pursued her dream with single-minded obsession. Prize-winning author Chris Karsten traces Charlize’s meteoric rise from a smallholding in South Africa to the pantheon of stars. Personal interviews with friends and family in South Africa and extensive research flesh out the life and career of this remarkable woman. Judging from the first 33 years of her life as revealed in this part-biography, Charlize will indeed one day be able to look back on her life and say: “This has been one helluva ride.”