Charlize Theron cemented her status as one of the big screen’s leading ladies of action when she took on the role of war rig-driving Furiosa in “Mad Max: Fury Road.” But off-screen, she took on another role at the very same time — by becoming a mom.
Theron adopted her older daughter shortly before production started on the post-apocalyptic blockbuster, and on Thursday, the 44-year-old shared a rare throwback photo from those early days of motherhood.
In the photo, Theron can be seen taking a break in a car between filming scenes on the set of movie, still wearing Furiosa’s grimy makeup but fully in mom-mode as she holds her daughter close to her chest.
“I became a mom right before we started shooting,” she wrote in the caption that accompanied the sweet pic. “At least my child will forever have the fun fact of ‘I spent most of the first year of my life in a war rig’…”
“Mad Max: Fury Road” came out in 2015, but filming began in the summer of 2012, just months after Theronfinalized the adoption of her first child, Jackson, who is now 8.
"I remember vividly seeing Jackson through a window,” Theron said during an interview with W Magazine’s Five Things podcast earlier this year, recalling the first moment she saw her daughter. “I got out of the car, and I saw her through the window. Somebody was holding her, and my heart just jumped out of my body and I almost couldn't catch it.”
Theron is now a mother of two, having adopted a second daughter, 4-year-old August, in 2015.
The photo the actress shared Thursday is only the third glimpse of her children she chosen to give her fans and followers on social media. Last year she shared a pic of one of the girls partially obscured by an apple tree, and back in 2016, she posted a shot of their hands alongside her own.
And there may not be many more peeks to come, because Theron remains privacy-minded and very protective when it comes to her girls.
"I look at my two beautiful girls and I think I have the worry that every other mother has out there," the she once explained in an interview with TODAY's Natalie Morales. "I don't think it's any different. I want them to be safe and I want them to be able to live their full potential, and whenever that feels threatened, yeah, I go a little psycho as a mom."